The President and his job

Title

Language

English

Year

1954

Subject

Magsaysay, Ramon del Fierro, 1907-1957 -- Speeches, addresses, etc.

Inaugural addresses of presidents.

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Editorials to promote the general welfare” The amount of space we have had to provide for “The Government” column in “The Business View” department of the Journal in this and the preceding The President two issues, this column being based and his Job mainly on press releases from Malacanang judged to be of special interest to businessmen, gives the reader some measure of the enor mous amount of constructive work being initiated by President Ramon Magsaysay. When, early in February, the President received U. S. Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens and several other high American officials, afterward entertaining them at luncheon, and Secretary Stevens, as reported, suggested that he visit the United States, Mr. Magsaysay said with a smile, “Not now. I have home-work to do.” A week earlier, in his “State of the Nation” address to the Congress of the Philippines, he began by saying that the Constitution makes the Executive and Legislative branches of the Government equal partners in the patriotic task of serving our people, adding, “I am here to start the job with you.” Yet earlier, in his Inaugural Address, he referred to the great men of the past as being often spoken of as if their work were done and their spirit had ceased to have meaning or value to the people; but the truth is, he said, that we need such men today to “complete the work” which the men of earlier times began. At the end of the address he declared that it was not impossible, as some say that it is, “to do what must be done.” Over and over again, the President is emphasizing the things that are to be done, the work, the job. And he sets the example by working prodigiously himself, with a seemingly untiring energy. The question he always asks his associates and assist ants is, “What are we going to do about this?” Never before has a chief executive of the Philippines so rung all the changes in the conjugation of the verbs to act and to do. In many respects, as was pointed out in a recent edi torial of this Journal, President Magsaysay differs from all of his predecessors and not the least of these differences is his emphasis on honest and efficient work. That, no doubt, is the “mechanic”, the engineer in him. A man who gets things done may somtimes make mistakes, but with President Magsaysay and his almost intuitive sense of the right, such mistakes are likely to be few and the country looks forward to great things to happen under his leadership. An informative report, “Industrial Philippines, a Cross Section”, Manila, 1953, was received by the Journal with the compliments of A New Report, the Industrial Development “Industrial Philippines” Branch of the PHILCUby the PHILCUSA SA (Philippine Council for U. S. Aid). It is a survey of ten Philippine industries conducted by the Industrial Development Branch in cooperation with the Industry and Public Works Division, Special Technical and Economic Mission, FOA (U.S. Foreign Operations Administration). The title-page, however, bears the note that the conclu sions and recommendations contained in the Report are those of the technical staff of the survey project (Counter part Project No. 35), and “do not necessarily represent the view of the PHILCUSA or the FOA Mission.” The names of the members of the staff engaged in the Project are given as Cenon R. Flor Cruz, Director of the Industrial Development Branch, and his successor, Renato Delfino, as Acting Director; Hugo B. Fernandez, technical assistant; Alfredo M. Martires, Gustavo C. Inglis, and Dante Prudente, researchers; Nestor R. Santiago, financial analyst; AlfredoM. Sumulong, .statistical clerk; and a num ber of other clerks and typists; the name of Wm. O. Light ner, industrial specialist, STEM-FOA, is given as Advisor. The book runs to 312 pages, including folded statistical inserts, and numerous diagrams, charts, and illustrations, and is bound in a stiff-paper cover. According to the Introduction, the survey “attempts to point out what industries offer reasonable prospects to achieve greater stability of production and employment,” and was limited to “ten selected industries on the basis of their possibilities for local improvements and development.”

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