U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney's Remarks

Meeting of the “Graduates” of the Congressional Internship Program for Young Muslim Leaders (CIPYML)
July 18, 2009
Davao City


Reasserting the Commitment to Mindanao Peace and Development: Meeting of the “Graduates” of the Congressional Internship Program for Young Muslim Leaders (CIPYML)


Maayong Buntag! Magandang Umaga! Assalamu Alaikum! Good Morning! Wonderful to see all of you.

It’s a real pleasure to sit in a table with so many friends and colleagues who are very dedicated to the future of this country.

I want to talk about two things: About Mindanao and about you. A lot of people often ask me about Mindanao. Why does Mindanao matter. Why does it matter to the Philippines and to the United States that Mindanao is peaceful and prosperous. Let me tell you why. Mindanao is a third of the territory of the Philippines. It represents the bread basket of the Philippines. It is a territory that’s filled with natura resources, with a great cultural heritage, with extraordinary diversity. In short, the possibilities for Mindanao are exceptional. The perils are also great. Mindanao is the most conflict‐affected area in the Philippines. It is therefore not as economically developed as it should be despite the fact that we are standing here in Davao which is growing enthusiastically. We all know – many of you do – you come from parts of Mindanao that aren’t as well developed as they should be, for people don’t have the opportunities to succeed with either security problems or lack of development. So until Mindanao achieves its potential, until Mindanao is peaceful and prosperous, it’s like an anchor dragging the rest of the Philippines down. The Philippines will never see its great potential realized until Mindanao does.

And that is important for America because the Philippines is one of our oldest allies and partners. As one of my colleagues in Washington says, we are more than allies. We are more than partners. We’re more than friends. We’re family. Our citizens live in each other’s countries. Our fathers and grandfathers fought and died together in World War II. And so, for us to see a third of this nation not achieving its potential, a third of this nation not living in peace, a third of this nation unable to get their products to market, unable to see their young leaders progressing, is for us not only a great heartache but in fact, it’s not good for America either. America does a lot of business with the Philippines. We’d love to have Mindanao see more American businesses here; more investors here. It’s also not good for any of our security. Any day that there are bombs that go off as we’ve seen recently across Mindanao is a bad day for all of our citizens. So for us, Mindanao is incredibly important. And as you know, that’s why we put about two thirds of our development assistance into Mindanao, to help Mindanao achieve its great potential. And that’s why we come to you, because you all are the leaders, you are the next generation, you are our hope. You have extraordinary talent and you have been given great opportunities and you are now back in your communities looking at how you can push for the sort of positive change. I don’t want to kid you and say that this will be easy. In fact, there are many peoplewho are not interested in positive change. There are people who have either lost hope or maybe never had hope. So you all should summon all the great energy that you have, but you have a lot. You have an incredible gift to give.

I’ve met so many of you in person and I always come away inspired with your leadership talents and your vision for the future, and the ways that you can positively effect change. As I was thinking what to say to you, to inspire you and to tell you that we are all in this together. We’re all with you on this ‐‐‐turn to the words of my new president. As many of you has seen, President Obama has been traveling around the world and has been talking about change and the important things that we can all do to effect change. And so from Cairo to Ghana in Africa to Russia and to across the United States, he’s been really talking about the need to bring people together, to establish respectful dialogues, to look at ways to share what we have in common and our common future ‐‐‐‐ so a couple of great quotes from him that I thought I would share with you. ‐‐‐ First, he talks about building positive relations, speaking in Cairo, he was saying, “So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace,” and he discussed the need to build respectful relationships across nations, across religions, across cultures that can work together. You can’t expect everyone to agree with you; you can’t expect everyone to have the same vision you do. But you can expect to have a very respectful relationship that recognizes differences but builds on what we have in common. He also encouraged people to step up.

A couple of quotes that I liked‐‐‐‐ “The world is what you make of it, you don’t have to accept the world you’re given.” He told the young leaders in Ghana, Africa, “You have the power to hold your leaders accountable and create institutions that serve the people…You can harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world.” And my new favorite quote ‐‐‐ “If we wait for some other person, or some other time, change will not come. There will never be a better time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek.” And I hope you will, like I do, know that we can make a difference. One person can do great things. Together as a group, all of you aided, supported, encouraged and enthused by the rest of us, can make an extraordinary difference. The future is in your hands. It’s not just your future, it’s our future as well. So I encourage all of you to step up and take advantage of these opportunities. Do not be discouraged by those not interested in a positive future. To keep working ahead and to know that you will have support from all of the rest of us.

So, congratulations on what you have achieved so far and congratulations to what you will do and for this country and all your friends in the rest of the country.

Thank you. Maraming Salamat and Mabuhay.