For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 18, 2003
Remarks by the President to the Philippine Congress
Philippine Congress
Manila, Philippines
4:50 P.M. (Local)
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all very much. Mr. President, Mr.
Speaker, members of the Congress, distinguished guests, I thank you for
your gracious welcome to the Republic of the Philippines. I also want
to thank the citizens of Manila who lined the streets today for their
warm and gracious welcome to Laura and me. It warmed our hearts. And
I want to thank you for inviting me to be the first American President
since Dwight Eisenhower to address this body.
Earlier this year, Laura and I hosted President and Attorney Arroyo
at the White House, the first state visit from an Asian country during
my administration. (Applause.) Today we are honored to visit
America's oldest ally in Asia, and one of America's most valued friends
in the world. (Applause.)
The great patriot, Jose Rizal, said that nations win their freedom
by deserving it, by loving what is just, what is good, what is great to
the point of dying for it. In the 107 years since that good man's
heroic death, Filipinos have fought for justice, you have sacrificed
for democracy -- you have earned your freedom.
America is proud of its part in the great story of the Filipino
people. Together our soldiers liberated the Philippines from colonial
rule. Together we rescued the islands from invasion and occupation.
The names of Bataan, Corregidor, Leyte, Luzon evoke the memories of
shared struggle and shared loss and shared victory. Veterans of those
battles are here today. I salute your courage and your service.
(Applause.) Along the way and through the years, Americans have gained
an abiding respect for the character of your nation and for the decency
and courage of the Filipino people.
The Pacific is wide, but it does not divide us. Over 2 million
American citizens trace their ancestry to these islands. The commerce
between us is vibrant and growing. We work together each day in law
enforcement and economic development and government reform. Our young
people study at each other's universities. Many Filipinos teach in
American public schools. And just this week, our two governments
launched a six-year effort to extend greater educational opportunities
to children in some of the poorest regions of this country. We
understand -- we both know that education helps defeat poverty.
The United States and the Philippines are warm friends. We cherish
that friendship, and we will keep it strong. (Applause.) Our countries
are joined by more than a market, even more than an alliance. This
friendship is rooted in the deepest convictions we hold. We believe in
free enterprise, disciplined by humanity and compassion. We believe in
the importance of religious faith, protected by religious liberty. We
believe in the rule of law, made legitimate by the will of the people.
And we believe that democracy is the only form of government fully
compatible with human dignity.
These ideals speak to men and women in every culture; yet they are
under attack in many cultures in many parts of the world. A new
totalitarian threat has risen against civilization. Like other
militarists and fascists before them, the terrorists and their allies
seek to control every mind and soul. They seek to spread chaos and
fear, intimidate whole societies and silence all opposition. They seek
weapons of mass destruction to complete their hatred and genocide. The
terrorists will continue their missions of murder and suicide until
they're stopped, and we will stop them.
Every nation in Asia and across the world now faces a choice.
Nations that choose to support terror are complicit in a war against
civilization. Nations that try to ignore terror and hope it will only
strike others are deluding themselves, undermining our common defense,
and inviting a future of catastrophic violence. Nations that choose to
fight terror are defending their own safety and the safety of free
people everywhere. (Applause.)
The Philippines and the United States has seen the enemy on our own
soil. Americans witnessed the murder of thousands on a single day.
Filipinos have known bombings and kidnapping and brutal murders of the
innocent. We've endured the violence and grief of terror. We know the
enemy wants to spread fear and chaos. Our two nations have made our
choice. We will defend ourselves, our civilization and the peace of
the world. We will not be intimidated by the terrorists. (Applause.)
We're on the offensive against the terrorists, draining their
funds, disrupting their plans and bringing them to justice, one person
at a time. Here in the Philippines, one face of the enemy is the Abu
Sayyaf group. These killers torture and behead their victims, while
acting -- or claiming to act -- in the name of God. But murder has no
home in any religious faith. And these terrorists must find no home in
the Philippines.
My government and your government pursue a common objective: We
will bring Abu Sayyaf to justice. (Applause.) And we will continue to
work together, along with our friends in Southeast Asia, to dismantle
Jamaah Islamiya -- the terrorist network, as well as other groups that
traffic in violence and chaos. As we fight the terrorists, we're also
determined to end conflicts that spread hopelessness and feed terror.
The United States supports President Arroyo's campaign to establish
a lasting peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Shortly before
his death, Ustaz Hashim Salamat wrote a letter to me professing his
rejection of terrorism. Only that commitment to peace can bring a
better future to the people in Mindanao.
I call on all the members of the MILF to reject terror and to move
forward with political negotiations. When a lasting peace is
established, the United States is prepared to provide development
assistance to Mindanao. (Applause.)
Yet there can be no compromise with terror. Philippine security
forces have the right and the duty to protect local communities and to
defeat terrorism in every form. In the war on terror, U.S.-Philippines
military alliance is a rock of stability in the Pacific. (Applause.)
And this afternoon, President Arroyo and I agreed to update our
defense cooperation. We completed the comprehensive review of
Philippine security requirements announced last May. Today, President
Arroyo and her government committed to a five-year plan to modernize
and reform your military. (Applause.) I commend the President and
your military leadership for taking this bold action. (Applause.) My
country will provide technical assistance and field expertise and
funding.
But success requires more than American assistance. The members of
this body must invest in the Philippine military to ensure that your
forces have the resources needed to win the war on terror, and to
protect the Philippine people.
Free nations -- free nations have faced a great challenge all
around the world and a great challenge in Iraq. Saddam Hussein pursued
weapons of mass destruction, sponsored terrorism, oppressed his people,
and for 12 years defied the demands of the United Nations. Finally,
the U.N. Security Council in Resolution 1441 demanded that Saddam
disarm, prove his disarmament to the world, or face serious
consequences. Saddam Hussein chose defiance, and President Arroyo was
one of the first world leaders to recognize the need for action. The
Philippines joined the United States in supporting and enforcing the
serious consequences. You rose to the moment, and the American people
respect your courageous and principled stand. (Applause.)
Since the liberation of Iraq, we have discovered Saddam's
clandestine laboratories suitable for biological and chemical weapons
research, his design work on prohibited long-range missiles, his
elaborate campaign to hide his illegal weapons programs. We've shut
down terror camps, denied terrorists a sanctuary. By our actions, our
coalition removed a grave and gathering danger. We also ended one of
the cruelest regimes in our time. Saddam's rape rooms and torture
chambers and children's prisons are closed forever. His mass graves
will claim no victims. The world was right to confront the regime of
Saddam Hussein, and we were right to end the regime of Saddam Hussein.
(Applause.)
Now that the dictator is gone, Americans and Filipinos and many
others share a common vision for that country. Coalition forces,
including Filipino peacekeepers and medical workers, are working for
the rise of freedom and self-government in Iraq. We're helping to
build a free Iraq, because the long-suffering Iraqi people deserve
lives of opportunity and dignity. And we're helping to build a free
Iraq, because free nations do not threaten others or breed the
ideologies of murder. By working for democracy, we serve the cause of
peace.
Democracy always has skeptics. Some say the culture of the Middle
East will not sustain the institutions of democracy. The same doubts
were once expressed about the culture of Asia. These doubts were
proven wrong nearly six decades ago, when the Republic of the
Philippines became the first democratic nation in Asia. (Applause.)
Since then, liberty has reached nearly every shore of the Western
Pacific. In this region of the world, and in every other, let no one
doubt the power of democracy, because freedom is the desire of every
human heart. (Applause.)
Sustaining liberty is not always easy. The world saw this last
July here in the Philippines. And all free nations rejoiced when the
mutiny against this government failed. People of this land fought too
hard, too long to surrender your freedom to the conspiracy of a few.
(Applause.)
All of you in this chamber are the protectors of Philippine
democracy, charged with upholding the legacy of Rizal and Quezon.
Member of the Philippine Armed Forces are commissioned to fight for
freedom, not to contend for power. (Applause.) I'm certain that in
the coming election, this nation will show its deep commitment to
democracy and continue to inspire people throughout Asia.
In this city, on a January morning in 1995, Pope John Paul II
addressed millions of the faithful. He spoke of the goodness of the
Filipino people, and the strength of your democracy and the example
this nation has set for others. He said, "May your life spread out
from Manila to the farthest corners of the world, like the great light
which shone in the night at Bethlehem." Ladies and gentlemen, the
world needs the Philippines to continue as a light to all of Asia and
beyond. (Applause.)
There is so much to be proud of in your beloved country: your
commitments to democracy and peace, and your willingness to oppose
terrorism and tyranny. The United States and the Philippines have a
proud history. And we face the future bound by the strongest ties two
nations can share. We stand for liberty, and we stand together.
May God bless. Thank you all, very much. (Applause.)
END 5:09 P.M. (Local)
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