    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [October 18, 2003]
    [Pages 1351-1354]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to a Joint Session of the Philippine Congress in Quezon City,
    Philippines
    October 18, 2003

        Thank you all very much. Thank you. Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of
    the Congress, distinguished guests, I thank you for your gracious
    welcome to the Republic of the Philippines. I also want to thank the
    citizens of Manila who lined the streets today for their warm and
    gracious welcome to Laura and me. It warmed our hearts. And I want to
    thank you for inviting me to be the first American President since
    Dwight Eisenhower to address this body.
        Earlier this year, Laura and I hosted
    President and Attorney
    Arroyo at the White House, the first
    state visit from an Asian country during my administration. Today we are
    honored to visit America's oldest ally in Asia and one of America's most
    valued friends in the world.
        The great patriot Jose Rizal said that nations win their freedom by
    deserving it, by loving what is just, what is good, what is great to the
    point of dying for it. In the 107 years since that good man's heroic
    death, Filipinos have fought for justice; you have sacrificed for
    democracy; you have earned your freedom.
        America is proud of its part in the great story of the Filipino
    people. Together our soldiers liberated the Philippines from colonial
    rule. Together we rescued the islands from invasion and occupation. The
    names of Bataan, Corregidor, Leyte, Luzon evoke the memories of shared
    struggle and shared loss and shared victory. Veterans of those battles
    are here today. I salute your courage and your service. Along the way
    and through the years, Americans have gained an abiding respect for the
    character of your nation and for the decency and courage of the Filipino
    people.
        The Pacific is wide, but it does not divide us. Over 2 million
    American citizens trace their ancestry to these islands. The commerce
    between us is vibrant and growing. We work together each day in law
    enforcement and economic development and government reform. Our young
    people study at each other's universities. Many Filipinos teach in
    American public schools. And just this week, our two Governments
    launched a 6-year effort to extend greater educational opportunities to
    children in some of the poorest regions of this country. We understand--
    we both know that education helps defeat poverty.
        The United States and the Philippines are warm friends. We cherish
    that friendship, and we will keep it strong. Our countries are joined by
    more than a market, even more than an alliance. This friendship is
    rooted in the deepest convictions we hold. We believe in free
    enterprise, disciplined by humanity and compassion. We believe in the
    importance of religious faith, protected by religious liberty. We
    believe in the rule of law, made legitimate by the

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    will of the people. And we believe that democracy is the only form of
    government fully compatible with human dignity.
        These ideals speak to men and women in every culture; yet they are
    under attack in many cultures in many parts of the world. A new
    totalitarian threat has risen against civilization. Like other
    militarists and fascists before them, the terrorists and their allies
    seek to control every mind and soul. They seek to spread chaos and fear,
    intimidate whole societies, and silence all opposition. They seek
    weapons of mass destruction to complete their hatred and genocide. The
    terrorists will continue their missions of murder and suicide until
    they're stopped, and we will stop them.
        Every nation in Asia and across the world now faces a choice.
    Nations that choose to support terror are complicit in a war against
    civilization. Nations that try to ignore terror and hope it will only
    strike others are deluding themselves, undermining our common defense,
    and inviting a future of catastrophic violence. Nations that choose to
    fight terror are defending their own safety and the safety of free
    people everywhere.
        The Philippines and the United States have seen the enemy on our own
    soil. Americans witnessed the murder of thousands on a single day.
    Filipinos have known bombings and kidnaping and brutal murders of the
    innocent. We've endured the violence and grief of terror. We know the
    enemy wants to spread fear and chaos. Our two nations have made our
    choice. We will defend ourselves, our civilization, and the peace of the
    world. We will not be intimidated by the terrorists.
        We're on the offensive against the terrorists, draining their funds,
    disrupting their plans, and bringing them to justice, one person at a
    time. Here in the Philippines, one face of the enemy is the Abu Sayyaf
    group. These killers torture and behead their victims while acting or
    claiming to act in the name of God. But murder has no home in any
    religious faith. And these terrorists must find no home in the
    Philippines.
        My Government and your Government pursue a common objective: We will
    bring Abu Sayyaf to justice. And we will continue to work together,
    along with our friends in Southeast Asia, to dismantle Jemaah Islamiyah,
    the terrorist network, as well as other groups that traffic in violence
    and chaos. As we fight the terrorists, we're also determined to end
    conflicts that spread hopelessness and feed terror.
        The United States supports President Arroyo's campaign to establish
    a lasting peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Shortly before
    his death, Ustaz Hashim Salamat wrote a
    letter to me professing his rejection of terrorism. Only that commitment
    to peace can bring a better future to the people in Mindanao.
        I call on all the members of the MILF to reject terror and to move
    forward with political negotiations. When a lasting peace is
    established, the United States is prepared to provide development
    assistance to Mindanao.
        Yet there can be no compromise with terror. Philippine security
    forces have the right and the duty to protect local communities and to
    defeat terrorism in every form. In the war on terror, U.S.-Philippines
    military alliance is a rock of stability in the Pacific.
        And this afternoon, President Arroyo and I agreed to update our defense cooperation. We
    completed the comprehensive review of Philippine security requirements
    announced last May. Today President Arroyo and her Government committed
    to a 5-year plan to modernize and reform your military. I commend the
    President and your military leadership for taking this bold action. My
    country will provide technical assistance and field expertise and
    funding.
        But success requires more than American assistance. The Members of
    this body must invest in the Philippine military to ensure that your
    forces have the resources needed

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    to win the war on terror and to protect the Philippine people.
        Free nations have faced a great challenge all around the world and a
    great challenge in Iraq. Saddam Hussein
    pursued weapons of mass destruction, sponsored terrorism, oppressed his
    people, and for 12 years defied the demands of the United Nations.
    Finally, the U.N. Security Council in Resolution 1441 demanded that
    Saddam disarm, prove his disarmament to the world, or face serious
    consequences. Saddam Hussein chose defiance, and President
    Arroyo was one of the first world
    leaders to recognize the need for action. The Philippines joined the
    United States in supporting and enforcing the serious consequences. You
    rose to the moment, and the American people respect your courageous and
    principled stand.
        Since the liberation of Iraq, we have discovered Saddam's clandestine network of laboratories suitable for
    biological and chemical weapons research, his design work on prohibited
    long-range missiles, his elaborate campaign to hide his illegal weapons
    programs. We've shut down terror camps, denied terrorists a sanctuary.
    By our actions, our coalition removed a grave and gathering danger. We
    also ended one of the cruelest regimes in our time. Saddam's rape rooms
    and torture chambers and children's prisons are closed forever. His mass
    graves will claim no victims. The world was right to confront the regime
    of Saddam Hussein, and we were right to end the regime of Saddam
    Hussein.
        Now that the dictator is gone, Americans and Filipinos and many
    others share a common vision for that country. Coalition forces,
    including Filipino peacekeepers and medical workers, are working for the
    rise of freedom and self-government in Iraq. We're helping to build a
    free Iraq, because the long-suffering Iraqi people deserve lives of
    opportunity and dignity. And we're helping to build a free Iraq, because
    free nations do not threaten others or breed the ideologies of murder.
    By working for democracy, we serve the cause of peace.
        Democracy always has skeptics. Some say the culture of the Middle
    East will not sustain the institutions of democracy. The same doubts
    were once expressed about the culture of Asia. These doubts were proven
    wrong nearly six decades ago when the Republic of the Philippines became
    the first democratic nation in Asia. Since then, liberty has reached
    nearly every shore of the western Pacific. In this region of the world
    and in every other, let no one doubt the power of democracy, because
    freedom is the desire of every human heart.
        Sustaining liberty is not always easy. The world saw this last July
    here in the Philippines. And all free nations rejoiced when the mutiny
    against this Government failed. People of this land fought too hard, too
    long to surrender your freedom to the conspiracy of a few.
        All of you in this chamber are the protectors of Philippine
    democracy, charged with upholding the legacy of Rizal and Quezon.
    Members of the Philippine Armed Forces are commissioned to fight for
    freedom, not to contend for power. I'm certain that in the coming
    election, this nation will show its deep commitment to democracy and
    continue to inspire people throughout Asia.
        In this city, on a January morning in 1995, Pope John Paul II addressed millions of the faithful. He spoke of
    the goodness of the Filipino people and the strength of your democracy
    and the example this nation has set for others. He said, ``May your
    light spread out from Manila to the farthest corners of the world, like
    the great light which shone in the night at Bethlehem.'' Ladies and
    gentlemen, the world needs the Philippines to continue as a light to all
    of Asia and beyond.
        There is so much to be proud of in your beloved country, your
    commitments to democracy and peace and your willingness to oppose
    terrorism and tyranny. The United States and the Philippines have a
    proud history. And we face the future bound by the strongest ties two
    nations can share.

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    We stand for liberty, and we stand together.
        May God bless. Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:50 p.m. in the Session Hall at the
    Philippine House of Representatives. In his remarks, he referred to
    Franklin M. Drilon, President, Senate of the Philippines; Jose de
    Venecia, Jr., Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives;
    President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines, and her husband,
    Jose Miguel Arroyo; Ustaz Salamat Hashim, former leader of the Moro
    Islamic Liberation Front; and former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. A
    portion of these remarks could not be verified because the tape was
    incomplete.