the business at hand, never losing sight of the long - term interests of the institution. 4 tribute to president gerlach ladies and gentlemen, i have discussed the matter of qualifications in great depth. but what qualities does one need to count as qualified? aside from having the professional knowledge, skills and experience required, one needs to take one ’ s job seriously and be fully committed. dr gerlach is a prime example of just such a person. some would go so far as to say that, in his capacity as president of the westfalen - lippe savings bank association, dr gerlach has sometimes taken his job a wee bit too seriously. he has certainly never given way to compromise when the interests of his institution were at stake. but the crux of the matter is that he has always acted in a fair, straightforward and open - minded manner. in view of these traits, an associate of his – who wishes to remain anonymous – recently referred to him as " a man who exhibits westphalian clearness of purpose ". gronemeyer would call you “ an honest place ". what i appreciate about your work ethic is that you have consistently remained true to your convictions, resisting the temptation to succumb to the mood of the day, always stating your case loud and clear. for instance, you have never shied away from addressing awkward issues like the need for reform within the ranks of german savings banks. in that sense, you definitely possess what gronemeyer describes as " a heartbeat... of metal ( that ) hammers out through the night ". your sense of commitment has not stopped outside your duties as president. for alongside your professional duties you have also performed numerous tasks in an honorary capacity. before i overdo the gronemeyer quotes, i would like to recite a verse by wilhelm busch who once expressed his views on voluntary work in a somewhat sceptical manner. here goes : " if you wish to lead a happy and joyful life take care to avoid all voluntary strife if you wish to avoid an early grave do not to this be a slave " 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the verse continues " deeds of charity impart no honour for, cutting away like a scissor, the desire for applause will diminish your cause. " unlike wilhelm busch, however, i am absolutely convinced that dr gerlach has chosen his honorary positions wisely. he will, for instance, continue to serve as chairman

amando m tetangco, jr : efforts to provide an integrated national payments and settlements system remarks by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the signing of the moa on the interconnection of pds settlement highway ( psh ) and bsp philpass, bangko sentral ng pilipinas, manila, 29 august 2007. * * * monetary board members ; mr. vicente castillo, ceo, philippine dealing system holdings corp ; mr. ramon sy, president, bankers association of the philippines ; guests from our partners in the banking sector ; bsp officials ; our friends from the media ; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon! today ’ s moa signing is another landmark in our joint efforts to provide an integrated national payments and settlements system. as partners in the financial reform agenda, we have all vigorously worked together to have the various pieces of the payments puzzle be put together. in the process, we continue to work towards the establishment of the infrastructure that would allow the secure and timely completion of transactions to reduce systemic risk in the financial markets and thereby enhance the integrity of financial transactions. in the course of the last five years, the bsp ’ s philpass has been interconnected with the check and peso clearing results of the pchc, the delivery vs. payment of government securities transactions of the bureau of the treasury, the atm transactions of the megalink member banks, and the payment vs. payment ( foreign exchange ) transactions of the philippine dealing exchange. to date, all the commercial banks and 50 % of the thrift and savings banks and some non - banks performing quasi - banking operations settle these various transactions in the philpass. with the signing of the memorandum of agreement for the interconnection of the philippine dealing system holdings corporation ’ s settlement highway with philpass, all the payment instructions for transactions that would be done through the pds group could now be transmitted directly to the bsp - philpass and effected in the ddas of the counterparties who are philpass member banks or through the ddas of the philpass member bank in their capacity as settlement banks for non - philpass members. these transactions include foreign currency transactions, interbank and interdealer repo transactions, and interbank fund transfers. it is also worthy to note that this interconnectivity comes at very minimal cost. this is because the infrastructure