By Ramon R. del Rosario Jr.

Delivered during the 6 September 2006 general membership meeting of MBC

Ramon del Rosario Jr.

A pleasant good afternoon to all!

As this is my first opportunity to speak before the Makati Business Club since my election as chairman last week, allow me to start by conveying to you and to our Board of Trustees my sincerest gratitude for this great honor that you have bestowed on me. I know I may come to regret ever having stepped into this position, but for now let me enjoy my 15 minutes of fame. I tried very hard to persuade Dick Romulo that there are surely others in the Board who are better suited for this job than me, but he was insistent that it was I he wanted to nominate. I think he has me figured as a glutton for punishment.

In all sincerity I am of course hugely honored by your trust and confidence, as I am awed by the size of the job I need to fill. With your support, I hope to survive—at least for my initial one-year term!

As MBC completes its 25th year and looks forward to the next 25, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the essence of the Makati Business Club and what it stands for. As a business organization whose members are primarily CEOs, COOs, and senior executives of the country’s leading corporations, MBC is a voice of business. But our founding fathers believed that we should be distinct and speak not only of business but also of public policy issues that go beyond business—that we should support or oppose policies which affect national life. In defining this as our central role, our founders were also most emphatic that we should not simply complain or oppose, but always strive to offer constructive ideas. Thus it is that, as we have sought to fulfill this mandate, we have come to be known as The Forum for Constructive Ideas. This distinct role, I believe, is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago.

Over our first 25 years, I believe we have performed our avowed role reasonably well. Yes, we have complained and opposed. But we have also offered constructive ideas and approaches. To address inefficient and expensive domestic air travel, we supported moves to liberalize domestic air transport, and we advocated an open skies policy in Clark and Subic to spur tourism. In response to the growing fiscal problems in our economy, and the creeping fear of another foreign debt crisis, we strongly advocated the enactment of the expanded VAT law, in spite of the whining of some of our business colleagues that business could not afford such an added imposition. We complained about corruption but also organized the Coalition Against Corruption, bringing together business, the Church, NGOs, and government to battle corruption. Only last week, we were again among the principal organizations behind the establishment of Philippine Business for Education, where we link arms with others to espouse concerted business community advocacy and better focused initiatives to reform and improve the overall quality of Philippine education. And on charter change, we have said that we are open to the updating of our Constitution, but we believe this must be done with adequate understanding, deliberation and debate, and through processes that are consistent with the Constitution and our laws.

Constructive engagement: this is the guiding principle that has served us well throughout our first 25 years. I believe this will continue to serve us well as we move forward. Does this mean that MBC will now speak with a muted voice? By no means! MBC will not be MBC if it does not take a stand and state its position on crucial issues that affect our nation. As always, the voice of the Makati Business Club will be courageous, sober, discerning and principled, guided by what we believe to be in the best interests of our constituents, our country and our people. I hope I can count on your unwavering support.

Mr. del Rosario is the chairman of MBC

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