Remarks for the 108th Philippine Independence Day Reception

12 June 2006

Grandville and Nathan Rooms, Conrad Hong Kong

Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong

HONORABLE MICHAEL SUEN, ACTING CHIEF SECRETARY FOR

ADMINISTRATION OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION;

DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF THE CONSULAR CORPS

IN HONG KONG;

FRIENDS OF THE PHILIPPINES;

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

I WISH TO WELCOME YOU ALL TO THIS RECEPTION TO MARK THE 108^TH ANNIVERSARY OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE.

THIS EVENING’S GATHERING COMMEMORATES A MILESTONE IN THE LIFE OF THE PHILIPPINE NATION, WHEN OUR HEROES AND PATRIOTS FINALLY ACHIEVED INDEPENDENCE FOR THEIR BELOVED COUNTRY FROM HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF COLONIAL RULE.  OUR FOREFATHERS HAD WAGED A COURAGEOUS BATTLE THROUGH THE SWORD AND THE PEN PURSUING THIS DREAM, AND THEIR DREAM BECAME A GLORIOUS REALITY WHEN THE PHILIPPINES EMERGED AS THE FIRST REPUBLIC IN ASIA.

HONG KONG AND ITS PEOPLE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PHILIPPINES’ STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE.  TO MANY OF THE LEADING FIGURES OF THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT, HONG KONG WAS A WELCOME HAVEN FROM THE PERILS BACK HOME. 

IT WAS IN HONG KONG WHERE DOÑA MARCELA AGONCILLO AND OTHER FILIPINO WOMEN SEWED BY HAND THE FIRST EVER PHILIPPINE FLAG.  A MEMORIAL NOW STANDS AT THE MORRISON HILL ROAD IN WANCHAI DISTRICT TO MARK THIS HISTORIC EVENT. 

NO LESS THAN OUR OWN NATIONAL HERO, DR. JOSE RIZAL, WHOSE BOOKS ROUSED THE REVOLUTIONARY UPRISING IN THE PHILIPPINES, LIVED IN HONG KONG FOR A YEAR, FROM 1891 TO 1892, AT THE REDNAXELA TERRACE IN CENTRAL.  AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST BY PROFESSION, DR. RIZAL ALSO PRACTICED IN A SMALL CLINIC ON D’AGUILAR STREET IN CENTRAL, WHERE THE FIRST HISTORICAL MARKER IN HONG KONG WAS ERECTED.  IT WAS IN HONG KONG WHERE HIS FIRST BOOK, NOLI ME TANGERE, OR THE SOCIAL CANCER, WAS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY HIS BROTHER PACIANO, AND ALSO WHERE HE STARTED WORK ON HIS THIRD NOVEL.

THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF HONG KONG IN ACHIEVING PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE IS ONE OF THE PILLARS THAT PROPEL BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN OUR TWO NATIONS TODAY.   THE PHILIPPINES AND HONG KONG ENJOY ROBUST TIES, BOTH IN THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SPHERES.  

HONG KONG REMAINS ONE OF THE PHILIPPINES’ MOST IMPORTANT TRADING PARTNERS AND AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS.  FOR 2005, THE PHILIPPINES’ TOTAL TRADE WITH HONG KONG REACHED OVER 5.2 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS, MAKING HONG KONG THE SIXTH BIGGEST TRADING PARTNER OF THE PHILIPPINES.  HONG KONG IS ALSO THE FIFTH BIGGEST EXPORT MARKET, AND THE EIGHTH BIGGEST IMPORT SUPPLIER.  THESE FIGURES SHOW CONTINUED EXPANSION OF BILATERAL TRADE: FROM 2001 TO 2005, PHILIPPINE TRADE WITH HONG KONG EXPANDED BY 15.6 PERCENT, WITH THE TRADE BALANCE CONSISTENTLY IN FAVOR OF THE PHILIPPINES.  EXPORTS AVERAGED A GROWTH RATE OF 19.6 PERCENT DURING THIS PERIOD, FUELED MAINLY BY A STRONG DEMAND FOR OUR SEMI-CONDUCTOR COMPONENTS AND DEVICES, ACCOUNTING FOR 2.4 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS OR 71.8 PERCENT OF EXPORT RECEIPTS FOR 2005 ALONE.  IMPORTS HAVE LIKEWISE BEEN GROWING AT AN ANNUAL AVERAGE OF 8.2 PERCENT.

THE STRONG COMMERCIAL TIES WE ENJOY WITH HONG KONG ARE EVIDENCED BY THE PRESENCE HERE OF REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES OF MAJOR PHILIPPINE COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN THE FIELDS OF FINANCE, TRANSPORTATION, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, BANKING, CONSULTING AND THE SERVICE SECTOR.  WE HOPE TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN THESE COMMERCIAL TIES AND SEE AN INCREASE IN THE PHILIPPINES’ TRADE FIGURES WITH HONG KONG IN THE YEARS TO COME. 

PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT TIE THAT BINDS PHILIPPINE-HONG KONG RELATIONS IS THE PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE LINKS.  THE GEOGRAPHICAL PROXIMITY, CULTURAL AFFINITIES AND IMPORTANT SHARED HISTORICAL EVENTS HAVE FORGED A FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN OUR TWO PEOPLES THAT CONTINUE TO THIS DAY.  TODAY, MORE THAN 130,000 FILIPINOS HAVE MADE HONG KONG THEIR SECOND HOME, MAKING THEIR MARK IN BUSINESS, CULTURE AND THE ARTS, IN THE SERVICES SECTOR, IN CONSTRUCTION AND IN THE HOMES OF MANY HONG KONG RESIDENTS.  THE FILIPINOS IN HONG KONG FURTHER ENRICH THE CITY’S CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND CONTRIBUTE TO ITS ECONOMIC PROGRESS, A ROLE WHICH THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT, ON MANY OCCASIONS, HAS GRACIOUSLY ACKNOWLEDGED. 

THE FUTURE OF PHILIPPINE-HONG KONG BILATERAL RELATIONS IS FULL OF PROMISE AND OPPORTUNITIES.  BOTH OUR ECONOMIES ARE EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH, WHICH PAVES THE WAY FOR NEW PARTNERSHIPS, PARTICULARLY THROUGH THE BILATERAL FRAMEWORKS THAT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED IN THE AREAS OF AIR SERVICES, TOURISM AND CULTURE, MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE, TRADE, INVESTMENTS AND TOURISM.  WE ALL LOOK FORWARD TO AN INCREASED PHILIPPINE PRESENCE IN HONG KONG, AS BOTH OUR ECONOMIES LOOK TOWARDS INCREASED BUSINESS WITH CHINA. 

THE PHILIPPINES AND HONG KONG CONTINUE TO STRIVE TO BREAK NEW GROUND IN OUR BILATERAL RELATIONS.  TO THIS END, THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT REAFFIRMS ITS COMMITMENT TO ACTIVELY PURSUE VARIOUS MEANS TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND CULTURAL AND PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE LINKS.  WE LOOK FORWARD TO MORE YEARS OF FRUITFUL PARTNERSHIP ANCHORED ON CLOSE HISTORIC TIES, STRONG CULTURAL CONNECTIONS, A COMMON DEVOTION TO DEMOCRACY AND UPHOLDING THE DIGNITY OF HUMANKIND, AND AN ABIDING FRIENDSHIP.

MAY I NOW REQUEST EVERYONE TO RAISE THEIR GLASSES IN A TOAST:  

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE PEOPLE OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, MABUHAY! (TOAST)