|
| PGMA's Remarks during the State Luncheon hosted by President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil |
|
Brasilia Room, Palacio de Itamaraty Brasilia, Brazil |
|
24 June 2009 |
|
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Madame Lula;
distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Mr. President for inviting me to make this state visit to Brazil as the first sitting president to visit Brazil. You mentioned my father visiting the country when he was vice president. He also came after his term as president, and as a young student, I was with him at that time. I remember in that trip one evening in San Paolo, we lost our way in our car. At a traffic light, a young man riding a motorcycle stopped alongside us, and we asked him for directions on how to go to the restaurant we wanted to have dinner in. Instead of just giving us directions, he went out of his way and escorted us to our destination. What an unforgettable experience of the graciousness of the people of Brazil. It is not surprising then that in the last decade, under the leadership of President Lula, Brazil, the 5th largest economy in the world… rather the 5th largest country in the world, the 10th largest economy with a 1.45 trillion-dollar GDP has burst into the international scene as a South American powerhouse, a voice for the special challenges of developing nations, as well as an innovator in biofuels. Though the Philippines and Brazil are geographical antipodes, them the opposite sides of the world exactly, were united by a similar colonial history, a similar struggle for independence, a similar culture and the same faith. We take many of the same challenges, so a developing… so developing a closer relationship affords us a chance to learn from your experience. We are both committed to the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. On the economic dimension, we both embraced global engagement as an engine to enhance our respective nation’s security and prosperity. On the social dimension, we both attribute importance to overcoming social inequality. We have learned from several years ago, that in Brazil, the income of the poorest has grown faster than that of the higher income levels due in large part to President Lula’s families tightened program called ‘Bolsa Familia’ linking welfare checks to school attendance and access to health services. We were inspired by the example of Brazil, and about two years ago in the Philippines, we introduced a similar conditional cash transfer program that we call ‘Pantawid Pamilya.’ Earlier, during our bilateral, I informed President Lula that we have 300,000 families or 1.5 billion Filipinos enrolled in this program. But our Secretary of Social Welfare corrected me, we now have in the second year of application, 700,000 families or 4.5 million Filipinos or five percent of our population enrolled in this program which we patterned after Brazil’s very successful ‘Bolsa Familia’ program. On the environmental dimension, we hope to establish greater alliances in the area of biofuel production. We are joining Brazil in the use of ethanol. I am happy when we return to the Philippines with new alliances with Brazil, particularly in bio-energy cooperation and agriculture that will benefit both the public and private sectors of the Philippines and support our efforts to promote food and fuel self-sufficiency. I’m glad to hear that one of the alliances that will be formed this coming Thursday will be with the Centro de Cana Instituto Agronomico de Campinas which I had visited with my father a long time ago. Brazil is a key player in the region and in the world. And I am very honored in behalf of the Filipino people that we are having strong bilateral ties emerging between us. Thank you, Mr. President for your message of esteem and friendship for the Filipino people and our aspirations. In this light, I ask everyone to join me in a toast to the friendship between our countries, and to the health and happiness of President and Madame Lula da Silva. Mabuhay! |
