TAPP Forum 2014- Speech_Dr. Roberto de Ocampo
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8/12/2019 TAPP Forum 2014- Speech_Dr. Roberto de Ocampo
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Making Growth InclusiveDr. Roberto F. de Ocampo, OB
Former Finance SecretaryCo-Vice Chairman, Makati Business Club
Chairman, Philippine Veterans Bank
3rd Anniversary Forum of Arangkada Philippines: “More Reforms = More Jobs! Rial "allroom# Maka$i %hangri&'a (o$el
February )*# )+,-
Thank you very much John Forbes for such a arm intro!uction, " !on#t think there is a nee! to
call me Sir Bobby$ %very time some people !o that " tell them "#m much too humble to be &iven
such e'alte! titles such as Sir$ " &uess (our )i&hness shoul! !o$
My once an! ever boss Presi!ent Fi!el *amos$ My favourite !irector &eneral of the P%+ an! a
very !eservin& aar!ee to!ay, ilia .e ima$ John ho has been !ra&&in& me here for a thir!
year in a ro no an! hopefully this time ill not mean strike three, %'cellencies of the
!iplomatic corps as ell as the officers an! members of the Forei&n Chambers ho have been
the prime movers of ran&ka!a, a very &oo! mornin& to all of you$
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ast year, hen " spoke before you, " starte! my speech by sin&in& a fe lines from the son&
/0hat a !ifference a !ay makes1 an! " chan&e! the lyrics to /hat a !ifference a year makes1$
0ell, " am not &oin& to sin& to!ay, partly because that episo!e resulte! in too many avi! an!
il! fans an! papara22i inva!in& my private space$ So let me &et ri&ht on to the point of this
very pertinent sub3ect matter you have chosen of reforms an! 3obs$
"n an opinion article " rote for the Philippine .aily "n4uirer a month a&o, " use! the ima&ery of
basketball to !escribe the situation in hich the 4uino a!ministration fin!s itself, as it moves
closer to the en! of its term$ " focuse! on the popular term /last to minutes1, hich con3ures up
the feverish e'citement pertainin& to to possible en!-&ame scenarios$ The first scenario
involves puttin& the finishin& touches to an apparent march to victory$ The secon! scenario
entails comin& from behin! to, as it ere, snatch victory from the 3as of !efeat$
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So, hich of the to scenarios applies to the present situation5 ike " sai! in that article, "
believe the first scenario is more pertinent to the a!ministration as it has an e'cellent chance of
pullin& that off$ That first scenario has to !o ith a march to victory$ 0hy !o " say that5 0ell,
because !urin& the first half of this a!ministration, a number of milestones ere alrea!y
achieve! as a result of a !o&&e! campai&n a&ainst corruption that reape! important benefits,
that inclu!e up&ra!e! cre!it ratin&s, stable inflation an! e'chan&e rates, a vibrant stock market,
an! unprece!ente! leaps in various aspects of &lobal competitiveness rankin&s$
)o is victory to be !efine!5 The Presi!ent himself spelle! it out for us early on in his inau&ural
a!!ress, hen he sai! he ishe! to leave behin! a le&acy of reforms that oul! be
institutionali2e! to the point that oul! make it !ifficult for subse4uent a!ministrations to alter
either himsically or, folloin& historical practice of political lea!ership in this country, to i&nore
continuity in favour of buil!in& their on political monuments$ "n!ee!, such a le&acy, if the
a!ministration !oes pull it off an! institutionali2e reforms, ill provi!e a stron& foun!ation for the
continuity of &oo! &overnance$ But hat a&ain is the relevance of the term /last to minutes15
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My intention in usin& that term is to hi&hli&ht the nee! for a hei&htene! sense of ur&ency, as
ell as to make everyone aare of political an! time-base! realities startin& this year$ "t oul!
appear that the current a!ministration is on the half-ay mark of its 6 year term$ )oever, the
reality is that 789: is likely to follo historical prece!ents of bein& only a half-year of serious
ork, ith the secon! half !evote! to intense political 3ockeyin& toar!s the ne't presi!ential
election$ 7896, by chronolo&ical !efinition, is really 3ust si' months of tenure left for the
a!ministration, ith most of that occupie! by political campai&nin& an! the presi!ential polls$
The arithmetic a!!s up to only about a year an! a half left for serious ork to clinch some
institutionali2e! reforms that oul! create more 3obs in the economy, as the theme of this year#s
forum succinctly conveys$
s ith the speech " !elivere! in this forum a year a&o, let me briefly &o throu&h last year#s
&roth performance, hich turne! out to be 4uite remarkable, notithstan!in& the setbacks
brou&ht about by natural calamities such as the Bohol earth4uake an! Super Typhoon (olan!a$
"n the statement he !elivere! at the press conference on the fourth 4uarter an! annual
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performance of the Philippine economy, Socioeconomic Plannin& Secretary rsenio Balisacan
mentione! that the Philippine economy &re at such as rate as to make it the secon! stron&est
in our re&ion, secon! only to China in overall sia$
0hat ere the &roth !rivers5 ;n the supply si!e, the services an! in!ustry sectors continue to
be the !rivers of economic &roth$ But ithin that, it is the services sector that contribute! the
lion#s share of <$6 percenta&e points of the real =.P &roth$ This as folloe! by the in!ustry
sector ith 7$> percent, but the in!ustry sector inclu!es ithin it 4uite a bit from real estate$
Fourth-4uarter &roth on the supply si!e as mainly propelle! by real estate or construction$
;n the !eman! si!e, &roth as !riven by househol! consumption, hich contribute! to the
lion#s share of ?$7 percenta&e points, an! net e'ports, hich only contribute! 9$6 percenta&e
points even if that as an improvement from previous years$
"n short, the economy continues to be a consumption le! one, but ith optimistic si&ns of turnin&
the corner toar!s bein& more !iversifie!$ The si2e of the "n!ustry sector is accounte! for, 4uite
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a bit, by construction hich you see all over the place an! probably took a bi& leap over the past
year because many of those buil!in&s you see bein& constructe! are in their finishin& sta&es
thus re4uirin& even more interior supplies than in previous years hen ork involve! mainly
!i&&in& the foun!ations$
" kno it#s &reat to hear an! " am really happy to hear about the robust =.P &roth numbers
an! 3ust like you, " oul! consi!er economic &roth as a necessary con!ition or platform, as it
ere, to institutionali2e much-nee!e! structural reforms$ @evertheless, the important 4uestion
e a!!ress to!ay is hether that economic &roth has been inclusive$ The anser, of course,
has been a bit !isappointin&$ %ven the &overnment reali2es this$ &ain, " &o back to Secretary
Balisacan, ho e'plicitly mentione! in a recent press briefin& that &roth has not ma!e a !ent
on poverty$ ccor!in& to the @%. chief, hi&h unemployment an! poverty inci!ence ill remain
a bi& challen&e for the &overnment in the years to come, even ami! stea!y &roth$
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.efinitely, there is an ur&ent nee! to continue e'pan!in& the Filipino mi!!le class this is the
section of our society hich has been !rivin& much of our !omestic spen!in&, accor!in& to a
@ielsen &lobal survey publishe! last year$ The mi!!le class is comprise! of Filipinos ho have
!iscretionary !isposable income that allos them to make choices about their lifestyle an!
chil!ren#s upbrin&in&$ More importantly, those ho belon& to the mi!!le class invest on
e!ucation, hich ill e4uip future &enerations ith the knole!&e, skills, an! values to be more
competitive in a &lobal economy$ "n!ee!, havin& a lar&e an! influential Filipino mi!!le class is
important, for they are the ones ho oul! have a!e4uate knole!&e of social issues$ n!
amon& others, come election time, they can be counte! on to vote for orthy politicians ho ill
!o the ri&ht thin&s$ But, if you !on#t have 3obs, you !on#t have a healthy e'pan!in& mi!!le class$
n! e cannot 3ust keep on &oin& sayin& that e keep on electin& all types of unorthy political
lea!ers an! blame the outcome on the poor$ 0e have to !o somethin& to make the poor un-
poor$ This is not a 4uestion of poverty alleviation an! makin& poverty more tolerable for the poor
but a 4uestion of poverty re!uction an! makin& the poor become mi!!le-class an! makin& that
the lar&er se&ment of our society$
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The important messa&e here is thisD )i&h =.P &roth rates !o not a !emocratic society make
by themselves inclusivity has to become much more i!e sprea!$ "#m not sayin& that e shoul!
resort to a socialist approach that oul! take from the rich to &ive to the poor$ fter all, a thrivin&
economy rests on initiative, hich, in turn, rests on proper incentive$ "f e take aay the
incentive of commensurate rear!s for one#s efforts, then the initiative to achieve may
!isappear$
"n a !emocratic society such as ours, pursuin& inclusive &roth is not really about re!istributin&
ealth an! income$ *ather, it#s about provi!in& &enuinely e4ual opportunities for all$ "nclusive
&roth is about ensurin& that all Filipinos can rea!ily access nee!e! human, natural, physical,
social, an! financial capital to be able to pursue opportunities to uplift their lives$ This entails
ensurin& 4uality e!ucation an! health services correctin& historically lopsi!e! access to lan!
an! natural assets e4uitable access to cre!it by small an! lar&e borroers alike a 3ustice
system that is blin! to people#s social an! economic status an! a competition policy that levels
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the playin& fiel! for bi& an! small enterprises$ "n other or!s, inclusive &roth calls for
correctin& our social, political, an! institutional flas that perpetuate une4ual access to
economic an! political poer$
@o, to &et back to the basketball analo&y " ma!e earlier, an! assumin& this is an en!-&ame
scenario, hat can the a!ministration !o to clinch the first scenario that " !escribe! hich is the
march to victory ithin the last to minutes5 0ell they can !o some /clutch baskets1 or so-
calle! /< point shots1 that ill pave the ay for more inclusive &roth in the comin& years,
perhaps even beyon! the term limit of the present a!ministration$
0hat oul! these be5 0ell there are a number of them, but let me hi&hli&ht a fe critical ones
for you to reflect onD
@umber ;ne, e shoul! intro!uce amen!ments to the economic provisions of the Constitution
to encoura&e more F."$ F." as you sa on the charts that John presente! earlier sho that
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hile our F." has increase! over the years it continues to cral at the bottom of the pack
amon& countries in the re&ion$ 0e clearly nee! more F." as that in turn oul! help brin& about
the 3ob creation e are all lookin& for at this ran&ka!a forum an! ith it a more robust mi!!le
class resultin& in the type of inclusive &roth that e are all lookin& for$ et#s face it$ 0e#re still
la&&in& behin! our nei&hbors in the area of F."$ To turn the ti!e, a bol! move is perhaps hat#s
calle! for at this point$ 0hat the Presi!ent shoul! consi!er !oin& is to &ive his blessin&s to
Speaker Belmonte an! Senate Presi!ent .rilon#s proposal to a!! the phrase /unless otherise
provi!e! by la1 to the Constitution#s various economic provisions$ s pointe! out by others in
the con&ress, the Presi!ent loses nothin& ith this amen!ment$ Con&ress must still pass a la
for every in!ustry to be liberali2e!, an! the Presi!ent can veto it if he#s not satisfie!$ 0hat#s
really important here is that e are able to si&nal to the orl! that e are open to chan&e to
make our Constitution more hospitable to investments$ 0e nee! to !o a bol! move, since e
use! to be the number to economy in the re&ion but no e are playin& catch-up to countries
that ere behin! us in the recent past an! those countries ill not be stan!in& still even as e
try to catch up$
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@umber to, e shoul! unleash the full potential of to of our principal competitive a!vanta&es,
namely a&riculture an! minin&$ "n a&riculture, this has to be !one throu&h &enuine a&rarian
reform$ " sai! it before, an! "#ll say it a&ain$ The key to improvin& the a&ricultural sector is our
ability to steer it toar!s an emphasis on pro!uctivity for the sector to &ro much more toar!s
an a&roin!ustry-base! confi&uration$ That ill not happen unless e chan&e our current lan!
reform para!i&m, hich focuses on onership rather than pro!uctivity, to some e'tent
romantici2es subsistence farmin&, an! puts much of the blame on cre!it policies$ The present
la e'pires in the mi!!le of this year even no the &overnment shoul! be &atherin& inputs on
ho to amen! it rather than 3ust alloin& it to lapse or e'ten! the same thin& all over a&ain$ May
" also stron&ly su&&est that you all rea! @ational Scientist *aul Fabella#s recent comprehensive
analysis of the history of our lan! reform that he aptly !escribes as /re!istriburin& poverty1$
s for minin&, hat more can " say about minin& that hasn#t alrea!y been sai!5 "n fact, it#s a
sector hose issues have been !iscusse! over an! over a&ain but !iscussions !o not a minin&
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in!ustry make$ (es e are aare that there are opinions about the nee! to protect the
environment, yes the minin& sector is aare there ere sins from the past, but e have to come
to a !ecision point$ Continuous !ribblin& of the ball !oes not allo us to tap into a resource that
coul! provi!e 3obs, that coul! provi!e &roth, an! that coul! provi!e a basic foun!ation in!ustry
for manufacturin&$
Three, this is pretty current e shoul! implement %P"* more effectively$ The threats of
blackouts are bein& mentione! by many an! are alrea!y a reality in Min!anao$ 0e shoul!
remember that the &oals of %P"* are to privati2e the poer in!ustry, to foster competition, an!
to brin& electricity prices to competitive rates$ )oever, it oul! seem that only the privati2ation
of the poer in!ustry has completely occurre!, an! the important ob3ectives of a better system
toar!s competitive pricin& an! fosterin& an environment that encoura&es the buil!in& of ne
poer facilities on a timely basis nee! much improvement$ 0e kno that ne facilities have to
be built, but timin& in the poer in!ustry is critically important, e must have enou&h reserves
so that e !on#t en! up in a bron- out situation an! those reserves can only happen if e plan
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ahea! ell to make sure that e !on#t fin! ourselves scramblin& to cover a &ap ith too little,
too late$
Fourth, " say this year after yearD "nfrastructure$ "n fact, the first time " stoo! before you " sai!
there ere < ma3or problems an! they ere infrastructure, infrastructure an! infrastructure$
@o, e are all treate! to a rush of infrastructure, particularly in roa! orks an! e are
suppose! to be partly happy because that is happenin&, an! partly inconvenience! because the
traffic can only &et orse$ But it#s a &oo! step forar!$ Enfortunately there#s a lot more in
infrastructure that nee!s to be a!!resse!$ " as chairman of M*T-A as early as the year 7887
an! it as only last eek that " sa its final approval$ Ten years to make the !ecision,
represents a lon&, lon& courtship$ " as so much youn&er then, an! ha! e built it three years
after it as first intro!uce!, e oul! by no have ha! A years alrea!y of an operational system
that oul! have !iminishe! traffic, rationali2e! public transport, an! opene! up a ne city in the
suburbs$ Perhaps e rather like lon& courtships$ But at the risk of bein& hat the Filipinos oul!
say, Makuli$ , let me a&ain reiterate the nee! to make !ecisions rather than continue!
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prevarication$ nother case in point has to !o ith the lon& !ran out process on !eci!in& on
our international airport$ !ecision on this is crucial$ ;ur airport represents the first impression
of investors e !on#t ant the first impression to be /the orst airport in the re&ion$1, !o e5
(es " kno that a bu!&et has been prepare! in or!er that e can prettify the @" 9 terminal in
time for the P%C so the lea!ers !on#t en! up lookin& at somethin& even more !isastrous than
hat it alrea!y is, but a !ecision on the international airport has less to !o ith interior
!ecoratin& than makin& a !ecision to move it aay from the one runay terminal that e#ve &ot
no that is never &oin& to satisfy the nee!s of the risin& &lobal community$ 0e must make that
!ecision yester!ay$ Many people kno " favour Clark because to me, that is a no-brainer$ Some
are even surprise! that this hole !iscussion as practically at its conclusion at the time of my
boss# a!ministration but it never ceases to ama2e me ho some people su!!enly !iscover this
solution hich happens to be in black an! hite, in a memo ritten as early as 9A$ For those
ho !o not believe it, " coul! fish out that memo, an! much that is bein& sai! by consultants
a!visin& no, for hom e may be payin& 4uite a bit of money, says 3ust about the same thin&
that that memo sai! in 9A$
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Five, e nee! to continue reforms at customs an! relentlessly pursue our anti-smu&&lin&
campai&n$ " !isa&ree ith those ho seemin&ly raise their han!s in !espair an! !epict customs
reform as virtually unattainable$ The efforts of the current commissioner appear to be on the
ri&ht track an! there may be those of you ho recall that three a!ministrations a&o ith the
intro!uction of computeri2ation, that narroe! the scope of !iscretion that often lea!s to
corruption, the maintenance of an S=S surveillance system an! strate&ic partnerships ith the
private sector, our Customs as even !eeme! as the mo!el of the re&ion !urin& the first P%C
ea!ers Summit to be hel! in our country$ (es, !efinitely that part of the fiscal activity has to be
ri&htene!$ Smu&&lin& eats into the competitiveness that investors oul! ant to see in a level-
playin& fiel!$ Smu&&lin& !oes not provi!e a level-playin& fiel! an! even 3eopar!i2es the
in!ustries that are alrea!y here$ @o, as for the other part of the fiscal sta&e, namely ta'ation,
for the first time ever, an annual survey has shon that ta' a!ministration has become the
number four concern of businessmen$ " lau! our current B"* commissioner " think she has
intro!uce! the fear of =o! in the hearts of many$ But " oul! like to also 3ust &ently remin!
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policymakers that it may not be a ba! i!ea to not 3ust emphasi2e chasin& assorte! ta' cheats
an! ti&htenin& revenue re&ulations but to come up ith policies that can e'pan! the ta' base$
S4uee2in& more an! more 3uice out of an e'istin& ta' base may turn out be more of a
!isincentive even as it sen!s out a stron& messa&e a&ainst &raft an! corruption$ Perhaps a
more balance! approach shoul! be folloe! in or!er to better ensure that e'pan!in& the ta'
base is also ma!e an even more e4ually important aspect of overall ta' strate&y$
@umber si' e shoul! enact an effective competition la$ There is a bill that is coursin& its ay
throu&h con&ress an! there are those that are nervous that con&ress, &iven the ay it often
behaves, mi&ht come up ith a la protectin& the interest of those alrea!y in a comfortable
position vis-a-vis competition$ "f e consi!er that hat e are aspirin& for is a !emocratic
business environment, then e must un!erstan! that a !emocratic business environment#s
essence is competition$ 0ithout the competitive environment an! level-playin& fiel!, then e
en! up ith oli&opolies, ith a structure of society that ill continue to feature an increasin& &ap
beteen the very rich an! the rich an! an even bi&&er &ap beteen the rich an! the poor an!
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so on an! so forth$ (es there may be some pro&ress even alon& those types of social structures
but it ill not be inclusive, it ill not be 3ust an! it ill not be in keepin& ith the !reams of most
of our Filipino citi2ens$ So " ur&e you all to keep your eye on the !ebates re&ar!in& the
propose! Competition a, brin& in your inputs, lobby if you must but make sure you !o hat
you can to help Con&ress come up ith a proper one so that once a&ain e can si&nal to the
orl! that a true level playin& fiel! is on its ay to fuller reali2ation$
Seventh, let us be prepare! a!e4uately an! early for re&ional an! &lobal reconfi&urations that
ill soon affect our economy$ " am talkin& about in particular the S%@ %conomic Community
an! the Trans Pacific Partnership$ "t is imperative that e be prepare! for these important
&lobal &ame chan&ers$ 0hy5 Because e have a ten!ency to ait until the last minute an! then
scramble furiously to try to see here e can still position ourselves hile other countries are
alrea!y much more prepare!$ So at the en! of all that scramblin& e en! up positione! in our
community of nations ith a ta&alo& term of /Salin& Pusa1$ @o, !o e ant to be /Salin&
Pusa15 "#m sure e ill all say /of course not1 but if e !on#t prepare, an! others are preparin&,
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if e !on#t clearly !efine hat our competitive a!vanta&es are, then the only competitive
a!vanta&e for us in an %C may en! up to be our ability to e'port more Filipinos to the rest of
the countries aroun! us$ That shoul! not be the case, but these chan&es are loomin&$ %C is
comin& in 789:$ " oul! su&&est, ith both respect to the %C an! the Trans-Pacific
Partnership that e !on#t fin! ourselves comin& to the P%C lea!ers meetin& still half-bake!
about hat steps e ou&ht to make in or!er to be a stron& participant of both &lobal tra!e
confi&urations$ This time, if e are prepare!, e ill be able to take a!vanta&e of these
confi&urations, because to my min! these oul! be elcome !evelopments that ill compel us
to !o the ri&ht thin&s$ Many of our failures in the past ha! been trace! to our inabilities to
un!ertake meanin&ful an! fun!amental reforms that buil! inherent competitiveness$ @o,
perhaps if e prepare ell e ill be able to move our economy base! on our nee! to a!here
to our commitments ith other nations an! as ell to ensure our competitive position$ et us
therefore ensure that e are rea!y$ n! if e position ourselves ell an! un!ertake valuable
reforms inherent in our effective participation in these &lobal confi&urations, e shoul! mana&e
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to reap the benefits of creatin& 4uality 3obs that e are lookin& for, an! that is the basic theme of
our meetin& to!ay$
There are many initiatives in the private sector, takin& place even in the ne't fe eeks, hich
ill &ive you the opportunity to sit an! listen to those ho are &oin& to !iscuss the innar!s an!
the !etails of the %C as ell as the TPP$ .on#t leave yourselves clueless$ "f the &overnment is
a little bit sloer in tryin& to !isseminate information about these then take it from the private
sector$ This eek, or as it last eek, F"@%G has a symposium on %C$ MP ill also be
con!uctin& one an! the sian "nstitute of Mana&ement has a series about it come June, But the
private sector has no to take the slack that seems to be there from the public sector#s si!e$ "
am confi!ent that eventually, the public sector si!e ill catch up, but as " sai!, time is of the
essence an! 789: is 3ust aroun! the corner$ 0e nee! a precise i!entification of our competitive
niches no$
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So let me conclu!e ith a final challen&e$ 0e have to alk our talk$ 0e are prou! of the &roth
performance of our economy an! the elements that have provi!e! that &roth$ But e oul!
ant to be able to make use of these as a platform for makin& sure that reforms are
institutionali2e! because that is the ay to create the mi!!le class by creatin& 3obs$ &ain, "
emphasi2e, e have to alk our talk e have the habit of havin& &oo! talks but not &oo! alks$
0e ha! three ran&ka!as in a ro, an! " oul! be really !epresse! if e come to the ne't
ran&ka!a speakin& about the same thin&s an! on!erin& here all the time has &one$ 0e
continue to have faith in this a!ministration that has set out on the ri&ht foot a&ainst corruption
an! thereby pro!ucin& impressive &roth rates$ "t has an e'cellent chance of pullin& off nee!e!
reforms in its /last to minutes1 an! if it !oes, it oul! have instille! one more institutional
reform this one in our collective min! sets, - an! that is provin& to ourselves our ability to alk
our talk $ Thank you very much for your kin! attention$
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