week medical leave last september, it was with full confidence that the bsp will continue even in my temporary absence, to work together to carry on with its many projects and to fully implement and sustain the continuity plus plus strategic agenda. i believe i left the bsp in very capable hands. and so it was. for this, let me express how profoundly thankful i am, to you, my bsp family. let me add too that i am glad to be celebrating my second christmas with you as your governor! the exercise of reposing full trust in the bsp ’ s officers and in each of you — reminds me that as every person here works to fulfill the institution ’ s mandates of price stability, financial stability and an efficient payments and settlements system — each one becomes a spokesperson, an ambassador and an advocate of our core values, of our strategic direction of continuity plus plus. we speak through our work and commitment! this empowers me now and it empowers you. i am buoyed by the palpable energy in this room. i contemplate this and am filled with joy as i celebrate the season with you all, and even with 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches those in the regions and branches through digital means. it is through our cooperative and collaborative efforts through the years and decades that we celebrate our 25th christmas at the bsp with a sterling reputation that remains untarnished. we are steadfast in our commitment to our mandates. for the past 25 years, through many trials, external disruptions, and challenges to our mandate, the bsp has provided economic stability. along with other agencies of government, we have achieved for the philippines, 79 consecutive quarters of uninterrupted gdp growth! to manage inflation expectations, and address possible second round effects of inflation, we proactively adjusted our monetary policy rates five times this year for a cumulative rate increase of 175 basis points. this is to help ensure that inflation reverts to within target range next year. and this is what we expect. we have not wavered in our commitment to price stability. even as we deal with disruptions from external and domestic factors affecting the supply side, we have put to good use the monetary tools at our disposal. we will continue to keep our ears to the ground, remain vigilant and prepare to face challenges ahead. our banking system remains one of our strengths, continuing to strongly support economic growth. our payments system has been growing steadily

amando m tetangco, jr : in praise of bsp ’ s top performers speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the 2009 bsp praise awarding ceremony, manila, 27 july 2010. * * * magandang tanghali sa inyong lahat! fellow central bankers and special guests, it is my pleasure to be part of today ’ s praise awarding ceremony where we celebrate service excellence at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas! in particular, we should be proud of our rich harvest : this year we have more than 400 awardees and nominees. indeed, our initiatives to advance employee performance continue to pay off. once again, therefore, let us salute all the nominees and winners under our 2009 praise awards with a well - deserved round of applause! let us also congratulate for a job well done all those who worked on our 2009 selection process under the praise committee headed by deputy governor andy suratos and assistant governor juan de zuniga! palakpakan din po natin sila. i understand that the interviews and evaluation of the nominees for all award categories have been quite intensive. that is because we truly have many bspers who deserve recognition and awards. tama ba ako? tama! let us also salute our iso awardees and reward them with a round of applause! ladies and gentlemen of the bsp. i have been a bsper for 36 years now. in my 3 ½ decades as a central banker, it has always been clear to me that the singular source of strength of the bank is its people. in fact, long before the lifting of the salary standardization, many bspers could be depended upon to render excellent work. and so, ladies and gentlemen, let us also salute central bankers past and present who under the salary standardization regime rendered praiseworthy service! palakpakan po natin sila! clearly, the commitment to serve our people and our country in the best way possible is a constant and strong motivation goal for all bspers. and now, with better incentives, better employee development programs, and continuously improving work conditions we are seeing broader and deeper commitment to always excel. i see this all around at the bsp : whether it is related to the performance of our core functions, institutional celebrations, employee activities, social programs, and even fundraising projects by the bsp employees association