YouSaid · the spoken record

ROMULO

lines on the record: 501
first: 1957-09-24
most recent: 1994-09-24
sittings or episodes: 17
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Today interference may take many subtle forms, from supranational crusades for causes that on their face are altruistic to gestures of helpfulness that sometimes blur the line between goodwill and good faith on one side and undue, if well-intentioned, meddling on the other. The climate of interdependence can flourish only where nation-States are secure and strong in their sense of independence. Then they can interact with others in confidence and serenity. 31. Mr. President, we face a crowded and multifaceted agenda at this thirty-third session of the General Assembly. We are fortunate that, through the next three months of intensive work that lie ahead, this Assembly will be steered by one such as you, who is so rich in experience, patience and wisdom.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“With some justification, many of us begin to wonder if a subtle form of exerting leverage is on the rise and whether the show-the- flag diplomacy of another era is being revived in the name of morality. The great pity is that naked intervention in other people's affairs could ultimately rob the noble ideal of human rights of any true worth or meaning. 30. In the increasingly interdependent world we live in, we must constantly be on guard against confusing interdependence with interference in the internal affairs of sovereign States. One is as healthy and desirable as the other is reprehensible and unacceptable.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“To overcome these extraordinary adversaries each country must calculate and apply the right blend of extraordinary measures that will be effective in protecting and promote the well-being of the majority without tearing apart the entire social fabric. It is not only possible but essential to construct such carefully calibrated measures, and those compelled to devise them act in the highest Interest of human rights and rational conduct, 29. We inhabit a plural universe and must learn to accept the diversity of customs, values and specific sets of economic and political circumstances. To compel other nations to conform to another country's values is itself an unpardonable violation of human rights.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“But one should not condemn too quickly the regulation of civil and political rights when this is rendered necessary by the need of the community to defend itself from the depredations of a few. To give free rein to the nihilist few in the name of human rights would mean the ultimate folly of collective suicide. In war every country defends itself through extraordinary measures. Today many countries find themselves lighting internal wars as desperate and real as the traditional wars between nation-States. These are wars against terrorists and subversives and separatists, wars against the scourges of hunger, social and economic deprivation and stagnation, illiteracy, pestilence.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“If human rights are intended to apply to the length and breadth of our planet, why are some countries singled out as alleged "violators" while others are conveniently ignored? If it is accepted that the seed-bed of civil and political rights is economic and social progress, how is it possible to explain the sudden and unpredictable withholding or withdrawal of assistance which impeded the development of the very rights economic aid is intended to promote? 27. And who among us, I ask, is without sin in respect of human rights? Who among us? Let us look at the mote in our eyes and reflect that, in the name of public order, civil and political rights are periodically violated in the very societies which champion the cause of human rights. 28.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“1 dare say (hat if human rights, in the restricted meaning current today, had been applied in an inflexible manner one or two centuries ago in those now advanced countries which were then struggling with the critical problems of survival-just as the third world is struggling today-most nations now advanced would have remained not nations but fragmented tribes. 26. The ideal of human rights is hardly new. It was there, just as was the Pacific before Magellan braved its vast waters. But the confused emphasis on human rights today raises serious questions, and 1 ask them. Are we interested in human rights as such, or are we interested in human rights for their presumed political utility?”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Emotionally and intellectually we reject the lessons of the great revolution of our own time, for the revolution of the third world requires adjustments, not in our ideals, but in priorities made necessary by inevitable constraints. 25. Yet it should be obvious that civil and political rights cannot flourish in an environment of economic and social deprivation. Indeed, economic and social progress is the necessary pre-condition for the growth of civil and political rights. There is no more eloquent testimony to this fact than the history of the developed countries.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Everyone in this Assembly subscribes to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; nobody can doubt that, although it is a matter for regret that some have delayed ratification of the implementing Covenants. What is in question is not so much human rights as the priority of choice in the hierarchy of human rights. 23. Any Government worthy of the name will accord priority to the preservation of human life. This does not mean forswearing the other human rights; it means relegating them to their appropriate place in the scale of that society's values. For most of us the ideal remains the promotion of human rights coextensively. But few societies would be able to do this even in the best of all possible worlds. 24. The fact is that we remain prisoners of the ideals of the nineteenth century.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The prospect of creeping death from disease, malnutrition or outright starvation is, if not as dramatic in impact, as surely fatal for the future of mankind. 21. Though these two problems differ in degree, they are both aspects of human rights. Yet how many of us, seated complacently before our colour television sets, eating instant television dinners, understand what it means to be deprived of food and shelter or to await inevitable death without the necessary medical attention? A 10 cent increase in the price of meat can cause a food riot in an affluent metropolis, yet the absence of meat, and indeed of food of any kind, in deprived areas causes hardly a ripple of concern among the same citizens. 22.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Interdependence based on the status quo perpetuates the relationship of dependency between developed and developing countries. While assistance and resource transfers are welcome, they are interim measures and do not constitute a solid basis for the continued growth and progress of developing countries. What is needed, and needed urgently, is a restructuring of the existing system to permit the equitable sharing of world economic growth. 19. The heart of the two problems of disarmament and of the North-South dialogue lies in the most elemental human right, the right to survive. Nothing more vividly illustrates the mortal danger to the human race than the prospect of a nuclear holocaust—a prospect that will continue to haunt mankind as long as the arms race continues. 20. But there are other, less apocalyptic, dangers.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Since the developing countries are an integral part of the human community and their economic progress or decline affects the whole, it is not only fair but prudent to allow them to participate actively in the processes of economic decision-making which affect the whole world. 17. While a certain amount of disruption in the economic systems of the developed countries is to be expected, the developing countries feel that the costs of such disruption are far outweighed by the profits of accommodation. Surely the rise of the third world is the principal and most dramatic historical event of the last quarter of this century. Its requirements can be ignored only at the peril of world peace. 18. If world interdependence is to acquire real meaning it must be based on equality, fairness and justice.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The connexion between disarmament and a New International Economic Order is not accidental, for the restructuring of the world economic system is itself a central preoccupation of mankind. Yet progress is slow. Since the landmark sixth special session on this subject, a fundamental resistance to changes in world economic relations has begun to resurface, which leads to the painful suspicion that in fact the developed countries are impeding the progress of the dialogue in an effort to maintain the status quo. 16. To the developing countries this position is incomprehensible. The desideratum is to establish a just balance in the interest of both developed and developing countries. The goal is not to rob the rich to pay the poor, but to create international mechanisms for the redistribution of growth opportunities.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The need for confidence-building measures was nowhere more evident than at the tenth special session, on disarmament. It was not a total loss, for it reaffirmed the principle that, since disarmament is a global problem, the proper venue for discussions is the General Assembly. It also resulted in the creation of a committee, now in session in Geneva, to study the question of the reallocation of savings from disarmament to the establishment of a New International Economic Order. Such a study should dramatize, and, it is hoped, convince the nuclear club of, the enormous waste of resources devoted to the mission of death which could be applied to the nobler purpose of enhancing life. 15.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The following measures deserve to be examined: first, an undertaking not to produce or deploy new weapons systems, which add a new dimension of escalation to the nuclear-arms race, as has been the case, for instance, with multiple missiles; secondly, an announcement that the most lethal chemical weapons, the dreaded nerve gases, would be removed from stockpiles, destroyed and no longer produced; thirdly, a moratorium on the production of fissionable material for weapons purposes, and a reduction of stockpiles; fourthly, a percentage or quantitative reduction in military budgets, nuclear-weapons stockpiles and delivery systems; and fifthly, an undertaking to suspend sales and delivery of nuclear reprocessing plants which have the capability for concentration of weapons-grade material, and to forgo such arrangements in the future. 14.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Because they continue to be relevant today, I reiterate them now: first, the achievement of the long- sought comprehensive nuclear test ban among Governments willing to participate; secondly, an ancillary moratorium on the testing or use of non-weapon nuclear devices pending the completion of a comprehensive study of their impact on the nuclear-arms race; thirdly, an agreement among major weapons-supplying nations to reduce, progressively and in a balanced manner, the conventional arms race. 12. At the same time, more direct measures could be taken once a climate of confidence had been established based on the principle of reciprocal initiatives in which an initiative by one party could be reciprocated in kind by the other parties. 13.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“While the talks continue to lag, vast sums of money are being spent in the development of another generation of weapons infinitely more sophisticated and therefore more deadly than the older engines of destruction. 10. Admitting that disarmament is a slow process, there still are a number of confidence-building measures which could be taken in an effort to halt the runaway race for arms superiority. 11. Last year I proposed three measures which could lead to the establishment of a climate of trust among the nuclear Powers.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Within ASEAN itself progress has accelerated markedly in the past year, both in terms of regional economic co-operation and in increased political cohesion. The external relations of ASEAN have also progressed in satisfactory fashion with additional prospects for further co-operation with other countries and international organizations. 8. But this Assembly is faced with two persistent problems which concern the whole of mankind. The first is the problem of disarmament, and the second is the North- South dialogue, most fittingly exemplified in the quest for a New International Economic Order. 9. The apparent lack of progress in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the principal actors in the nuclear drama is the dramatic symbol of the hazards which confront us daily.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Although agreements have been reached in principle, these have not notably diminished tensions. 6. In Asia, the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China has added a new dimension to efforts to strengthen the stability of the region. At the same time it has aroused misgivings in some quarters, raising the possibility of fresh tensions in the future. 7. Of more proximate interest to the Philippines and to its partners in the Association of South-East Asian Nations [ASEAN/ are the conflicts which, unexpectedly as well as dangerously, have flared into armed skirmishes in our region. We feel that these should be settled as quickly as possible at the negotiating table on terms mutually acceptable to the parties concerned.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“As with every breakthrough, how it is pursued will determine its ultimate fruits. It is our earnest hope that the road which led to Camp David shall in the future lead to the final healing of wounds caused by a full generation of unremitting confrontation in the Middle East. 4. But we should note two things about the Camp David agreements-the first with pleasure and the second with caution. The first is that the spirit of Camp David reflects the spirit of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and in that respect proves the validity and wisdom of that resolution. The second is that the Camp David agreements do not represent a final settlement, but rather a necessary framework. 5. The same note of guarded optimism applies to the situation in black Africa as a whole, with the exceptions of the intractable problems in Zimbabwe and Namibia.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“But the two are not unrelated since the consequences of one impinge on the other and suggest strongly that it is not nations but rather issues which are interdependent. 3. We open this, the thirty-third session of the General Assembly, in the afterglow of the agreements on the Middle East reached at Camp David. One of the most intractable and danger-fraught questions of our century may have been moved substantially toward a solution as the result of the extraordinary leadership and personal skill of the President of the United States, Mr. Jimmy Carter. Great credit is also due to the President of Egypt, Mr. Anwar El-Sadat and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Menachem Begin, whose goodwill and earnestness enabled them to discover their common interest in the search for lasting peace.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“1. The great English writer, Charles Dickens, began one of his celebrated novels thus: "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.. .". I suggest that these words form the theme of this session of the General Assembly. But 1 should amend them to read that if this is not the worst of times, it is also not the best of times. 2. At every session of the Assembly, we do in fact hover between the brink of hope and the abyss of despair in a recurrent schizoid pattern symbolic of the profound readjustments in the ongoing relations among nations. Reduced to the simplest level, the problems which face this Assembly can be described as the struggle for supremacy among the "haves", and the struggle for equality between the "haves" and the "have-nots".”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“While effectively practicing "quiet diplomacy"-he is a quiet man-to forestall violence in southern Africa, to maintain the precarious peace in Cyprus and in the Middle East, and to damp down dangerous tensions in other places, the Secretary-General has also performed invaluable service in facilitating die crucial dialog on the new international economic order. The key office of Secretary-General could not have been placed in better hands during this time of historic change and transition. In our estimation, Secretary-General Waldheim deserves to be highly commended for a difficult job well done.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“He has done an outstanding job at an extremely difficult time in the life of the United Nations-a time, as I have noted, of disenchantment and even of antagonism towards the Organization, and a time, moreover, of portentous change, marking a far-reaching shift in emphasis from political confrontations between great Powers to an economic dialog between the rich and the poor nations which could shape the future of our world. As he has correctly observed: "Although East-West problems persist in many fields, the North-South relationship is in one form or another increasingly the basic theme of our debates". [A/31/ 1/Add.l, sect. II].”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Whatever the reasons for inaction on the part of its Members with regard to the major problems and tasks facing the United Nations, the excuse of the inadequacy of the world Organization must be removed once and for all by its improvement. 97. We have the responsibility to assure for present and future generations that the spaceship, earth, has an adequately instrumented guidance center to direct it through the trying, yet creative, days that lie before us. And what is that global guidance center, if not this United Nations? 98. I should like to conclude this statement with a brief tribute to our Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, whose term of office ends in December this year.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“During its meetings this year, the Special Committee began its substantive work considering item by item the suggestions of members. Many valuable and innovative suggestions were made, and a number of members submitted working papers. We look forward to the renewal of the mandate of the Special Committee with very broad support, and to the continuation of its valuable work in the coming year. 96. We cannot, and will not, rest in this task until the United Nations is adequately equipped with the machinery and mechanisms it needs in the field of peace-keeping, the peaceful settlement of disputes, decision-making and the promotion and protection of human rights.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“We welcomed the establishment by the General Assembly at its; twenty-ninth session of an Ad Hoc Committee on the Charter of the United Nations to consider the observations of Governments on needed changes in the United Nations Charter, specific proposals for enhancing the ability of the United Nations to achieve its purposes, and any other suggestions for the more effective functioning of the United Nations, whether or not they would require amendments to the Charter [resolution 3349 (XXIX)]. 95. Upon the far-sighted initiative of the Government of Romania, this Committee has now become the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, and its membership has been increased a second time, to 47 [resolution 3499 (XXX)].”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“When I noted on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations that it had proved remarkably adaptable, and its founders unusually prescient, I also pointed out that the Organization was not adequate in all respects to the new requirements confronting it. 94. This realization was shared by others, and we are gratified that a large majority of Members now agree that a review of the structure of the United Nations, of its Charter and of possible improvements in both is, as I stated during the twenty-fifth anniversary session, "no longer deferrable".”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The renunciation of the most deadly chemical weapons-nerve gases-could also lead to successful negotiations, as a similar initiative did in the case of biological weapons, which are now banned from national arsenals and destroyed. 92. What, additionally, can the United Nations do? If a world disarmament conference cannot be held under appropriate United Nations auspices, the Philippines is prepared to support the proposal of the non-aligned group to hold a special session of the General Assembly in 1977, devoted to the problems of the arms race and disarmament. This is the very least we can do during the so-called Disarmament Decade, now fast running out. 93. The instrumentalities which we employ to reach decisions and agreements, and to carry out and implement their terms, must be adequate to the task.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“As the Secretary- General has reminded us: "Resources devoted to the arms race since the end of the Second World War have exceeded $6,000 billion, which is roughly equivalent to the 1976 gross national product of the entire world". [A/31/I/Add. 1, sect. V].That is tragic, indeed. 91. It is time, certainly, for an act of high statesmanship which can break the vicious circle of action and reaction now spiraling towards catastrophe. An announcement, for instance, ending all nuclear tests and placing a moratorium on peaceful nuclear explosions could break the present deadlock and set in motion the processes of successful negotiations.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The years go by, but not one plane or missile is dismantled except because of old age, to be replaced by new and ever more destructive models; and although we grow accustomed to their presence, they pose an ever greater threat to the survival of mankind. 89. The world has become increasingly alarmed-and rightly so-about the spread of the means to produce nuclear weaponry. But the threat inherent in the continued "horizontal proliferation" of nuclear capacity is not as immediate as the continued "vertical proliferation" in the arms race among the nuclear Powers, Their failure to effect cutbacks in nuclear arms, or even cutbacks in ceilings for strategic nuclear systems, is a source of the gravest disappointment and alarm. 90. The wastage in resources that could otherwise be put to constructive uses is, indeed, staggering.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“We now have before the Assembly the proposal of the Federal Republic of Germany [A/31/242]. 87. I turn now to the vital question of disarmament. We share the general concern over the lack of progress in disarmament. The situation has, in fact, been deteriorating, as the Foreign Minister of Singapore, Mr. S. Rajaratnam, reminded us the other day in his thoughtful and thought- provoking policy statement [10th meeting]. I suggest that that statement be reread by the members of the General Assembly. 88. We are deeply disturbed by the continuing upward trend in the production, stockpiling and proliferation of armaments and particularly of the means for the production of nuclear armaments.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Stringent international measures can undoubtedly be directed toward the protection of the innocent, in addition to those which now exist under the terms of The Hague Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, and the Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, and through the elaboration of the Standards and Practices Governing Airport Security and Aircraft Safety recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The taking of innocent hostages is a heinous crime, and the Government of the Philippines, itself a victim of several aerial hijackings, will vigorously support the development of legal instruments and measures directed toward its inhibition and suppression.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Adequate safeguards have not been made available to protect nuclear reprocessing plants and transportation facilities. Since nuclear secrets are no longer sEcrets, die danger of nuclear terrorism increases with each passing day. It is no longer a science-fiction scenario to foresee a city held hostage and a nation rendered impotent by the threat of a nuclear explosion. 86. The second aspect of terrorism-and this I want to emphasize and to refer to now-is the taking of innocent hostages, which has become widespread in the hijacking of airliners.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“South Africa continues to be a symbol of the travesty of the principles of the Charter and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By its continued repression of the black majority of South Africa, the white minority regime of that country stands condemned by world public opinion, and becomes subject to the provisions of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid [resolution 3068 (XXVIII)], which came into force last July. Meanwhile, the struggle against apartheid through diplomatic, cultural, economic and other means should be steadfastly pursued. 85. I wish to speak now about two aspects of terrorism, and first, about nuclear terrorism. There is all too little separating the zealot from the nuclear trigger.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Care should be taken, however, to ensure that the formulas offered for transition to majority rule in Zimbabwe, or Southern Rhodesia, should conform to the legitimate demands of the African people. Proposed solutions should not be dictated by expediency or solely by considerations for the balance of power. They should first and foremost be just solutions, consonant with the Charter and with the expressed desires and aspirations of the African people. 83. In the case of Namibia, the right of its people to self-determination and independence should be upheld. The Philippines joins in the demand for the withdrawal by South Africa from Namibia to enable its people to achieve freedom and independence in accordance with relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. 84.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“With the progress of decolonization elsewhere, our profound concern with the attainment of this major United Nations goal has increasingly focused on Africa. 80. In the case of southern Africa, the Philippines has scrupulously implemented United Nations decisions, including the application of economic sanctions, the severance of diplomatic and consular relations, and even the observance of sanctions in the field of sports. We dare say that few can match, let alone surpass, that record. 81. In this context, we welcome the determined ongoing efforts to find peaceful solutions, acceptable to all concerned, to the explosive confrontations in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and we earnestly and prayerfully hope that those efforts will succeed. 82.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“So is the liquidation of the remaining pockets of that older and more blatant form of colonialism: the physical subjugation of one people by another. Nowhere is this duty more pressing today than in southern Africa, where rampant oppression and racism have provoked violent uprisings threatening the peace of the entire region. The remnants of colonial tyranny and exploitation have absolutely no place in the new world order now being built. 79. Through the years, the Philippines has consistently and uncompromisingly supported the righteous cause of the African peoples. We helped write the provision on self-determination in the United Nations Charter in 1945, and have since then faithfully espoused the right of all colonial countries and peoples to independence.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“At the international level the paramount need is for what we may describe as economic decolonization and for the democratization of the world's antiquated and inequitable economic structure. This is the new imperative of our time. The goal would be, in effect, a decentralization of economic power, as well as a fairer and more balanced pattern of consumption and distribution. 77. The time is past when developed countries could isolate themselves from the problems of the developing countries. That time is past. Like it or not, we all belong to one world, which cannot be half-rich and half-poor, or, to be more precise, one-third rich and two-thirds poor. The alleviation of poverty is a shared and collective obligation of the world community. 78.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“All we want is to proceed unhampered with our own development. ASEAN is not an insignificant association. Its member nations, with a combined population of over 230 million people, inhabit an area strategically situated, rich in natural resources, potentially powerful. But our ambition is limited to seeing South-East Asia become a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality. In his policy statement on the opening day of the general debate this year, Mr. Krishna Raj Aryal, Foreign Minister of Nepal, correctly described the ASEAN proposal towards this end as: "a constructive effort towards the strengthening of the peace, stability and development of the South-East Asian region" [5th meeting, para. 174]. We welcome with deep appreciation his statement that Nepal "fully and strongly support [s] this effort [ibid]. 76.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“But we are united on some things which we consider important: to secure a better life for our peoples; to do everything we can, individually and collectively, to enhance the prospects for peace and to maintain the climate of freedom in our region; to support with our combined strength the concerted efforts of the third world to restructure the world economic order on the basis of justice and equality for all Members of the international community. 74. ASEAN is still misunderstood and sometimes maligned and misrepresented. This has not deterred us from extending the hand of friendship and peaceful collaboration to all our neighbors in South-East Asia. 75. To the great Powers, we say simply, "Please leave us alone", Kindly refrain from making South-East Asia an arena of your competing ambitions.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“At an historic summit meeting in Bali last December the Heads of Government of the ASEAN countries resolved to co-operate in accelerating the economic development of the member countries. At the same time the foundation was laid for regional collaboration in selected industries. 73. We in ASEAN have our differences: religious differences, ethnic differences, differences in political and social systems.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“At the national level each country should strive to put its own house in order, rectifying economic and social inequalities, ensuring a full share for every citizen in the benefits as well as the tasks of national development, improving the quality of life nationwide. This is precisely what in essence we have been doing for the past four years in our new society. We are, of course, doing this primarily for the benefit of our own people, but we are also hoping that our new society could become a microcosm of what the new international economic order should be on a global scale. 72. At the regional level we are hard at work in the Association of South-East Asian Nations [ASEAN] with our neighbors and associates Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“And unless there is an equitable sharing of the world's resources, it could not be a question of whether, but how soon, the ever-growing number of the world's poor would challenge the ever-diminishing number of the rich for the just sharing of those resources." 70. The Philippine commitment to the new international economic order, be it noted, goes beyond lip service. Out of our modest resources the Philippines has pledged $US SO million to initiate the common fund for the integrated program on commodities, one of the key-stones of the new international economic order. The Philippines has also subscribed to a common fund for the least developed countries with a contribution of $US 500,000 over a three-year period. 71. These actions reflect our concept of the new inter-national economic order as an edifice with three levels.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“He said: "The time has come for the dominant powers to renounce their desire for national advantage, to proclaim an end to all unequal relationships which the developing countries have had to accept as former possessions, protectorates or colonies... If the rich do not intervene to hasten the. growth of the tinder-developed countries, they cannot hope to avoid being themselves caught under the weight of those whom they will not help." 69. Earlier in Manila President Marcos had said in his opening address to the Group of 77 ministerial meeting: "Power itself cannot be indefinitely monopolized; it should be shared progressively among nations if we are to inhabit a tranquil and orderly world...”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“We have also consolidated our identification with the third world of developing countries by a series of significant initiatives including the hosting of the Third Ministerial Meeting' of the Group of 77 in Manila last January and February and the personal participation of President Marcos at the fourth session of UNCTAD in Nairobi last May. At that Conference, as the chosen spokesman of the Group of 77, President Marcos presented the Manila Declaration and Program of Action embodying the Group's positions on the great issues pertaining to the new international economic order. He seized the opportunity to speak forcefully on the need for change.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“We have been moving with deliberate speed towards non-alignment-non-alignment in its true sense-a course made possible by our disengagement from the South-East Asia Treaty Organization, which we have helped to phase out; by the review of our bilateral defense agreements with the United States, in which we have reaffirmed Philippine sovereignty over the military bases in our territory we are seeking to reduce further the period of their occupancy and insisting on strict adherence to their defensive purpose; and by our establishment of diplomatic and trade relations with the great majority of socialist States. 68.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“At the same time, determined to maintain cordial relations with all friendly countries regardless of differences in ideology and social systems, we have steadily expanded our diplomatic links with developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America- most recently with our neighbors Democratic Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam; with the Somali Democratic Republic, the Central African Republic and the Gabonese Republic, in Africa; and with Cuba and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in Latin America. 66. To the newly admitted Republic of Seychelles we extend a warm welcome and the assurance of our readiness to develop amicable and mutually beneficial relations. 67. The fundamental reorientation of our foreign policy is reflected not only in its enlarged scope but also in its content and direction.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Without fanfare we have in fact brought about a basic reorientation of our foreign policy as far-reaching in its implications for our foreign relations as those of our revolutionary new society are for our national development. 64. As recently as 1972 we had no diplomatic relations with a single socialist State. We have since quietly rectified that omission. Our establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China last year, and with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics last June, completed the normalization of our relations with the leading socialist countries. 65.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“If we consider the world as it really is today, we shall, I submit, understand that in bringing about the change we covet the arbitrary imposition of the will of one side upon the other can lead us nowhere. The so-called automatic numerical majority in the General Assembly is in real terms matched by what a Spanish wit called the vast minority- the vast minority of wealth and power constituted by the industrial States. Indeed, they have nothing to fear but their own short-sightedness and selfishness. 62. Having said what I felt needed to be said, allow me now to undertake a brief review of the foreign policy of my Government. We in Manila too, and foremost among us our President Ferdinand E. Marcos, have for the past several years taken a hard look at the world as it really is, now in 1976, and not as it was in 1945. 63.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“We are out of Bretton Woods, thank God, and we have not remained asleep since Lake Success. We cannot keep the calendar at 1945. 60. That is what I should like the skeptics, critics and cynics to bear in mind when they pass judgment on the work and the workings of the General Assembly. Our task now, as -in my conception- it has always been, is to bring about a better world, and that means necessarily to change the world. Our task here is to voice the demand of the majority, a true majority, of the inhabitants of this earth, for a meaningful change in their lives, to seek and promote that change, to ease the essential adjustments to that change, not through recrimination and confrontation, but through the recognition and reconciliation of legitimate interests, 61.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)