amando m tetangco, jr : the cornerstones of a thriving economy opening speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the 2007 awarding ceremony for bsp stakeholders, bangko sentral ng pilipinas, manila, 4 july 2007. * * * members of the monetary board, distinguished guests ; heads, chief executive officers and personnel of our partner firms ; my colleagues at the bsp ; ladies and gentlemen : magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat! on behalf of the members of the monetary board as well as the men and women of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas, i thank all our stakeholders, the media, and other special guests for joining us this morning. today, we give recognition to our partners from the business and government sectors who regularly invest time and effort to provide complete and reliable information to us. these are vital statistics and information that guide the bangko sentral ng pilipinas in formulating appropriate and timely policies and programs. indeed, one cannot overemphasize the importance of having complete and accurate information as basis for making decisions that can significantly affect a big number of our people. in fact, the cornerstones of a thriving economy are reliable, timely and complete information. otherwise, it would be garbage in, garbage out. gaining public recognition for the importance of statistics and information that we produce, monitor and disseminate therefore is a continuing undertaking with you as our information providers. i am pleased to report that the dividends from our partnership have been highly encouraging. among others, this partnership has allowed the bangko sentral to be forward - looking and information - intensive in the formulation of monetary and financial policies. as a result, we have been doing quite well insofar as our monetary policy is concerned. in fact, even as oil prices are hitting historic high levels, we manage to tame inflation at low and stable rates : in june 2005, for instance, our inflation rate was 7. 6 % ; last may, it had dropped to 2. 4 %, a level comparable to those in developed countries. it is also significant to note that even as we continue to experience solid and broad - based economic growth, we have been able to keep the lid on inflation, maintained interest rates at low levels, and the peso stronger. meanwhile, the bangko sentral this year gave a

amando m tetangco, jr : leading the way toward growth and development speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the inaugural blessing of the newest branch of one network bank in sasa, davao city, 20 july 2007. * * * archbishop capalla, mayor duterte, the officers and staff of one network bank ( onb ), fellow bankers, special guests, maayong gabi - i sa inyong tanan! on behalf of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas, i congratulate onb on the inaugural of its head office branch, the 65th in its network of branches within mindanao. these 65 branches exclude the five new branches that have just been approved by the bsp. now a leading rural bank, onl has positioned itself as a catalyst for economic growth in mindanao, with a presence bigger than other private banks. one network bank : making a difference in mindanao in particular, onb ’ s support for the agriculture sector including small farmers is most commendable. i understand that onb ’ s loan exposure to agriculture is among the highest in the industry and it continues to grow : it was p1. 1 billion in march 2006 and by march this year it had reached p1. 5 billion! we also recognize the bank ’ s contribution in financing the development of the education, health and services sectors in mindanao through credit facilities that are made available to various institutions such as schools, hospitals, and local government units. in addition, onb has responded positively to bangko sentral ’ s policy to encourage technological innovations that translate to more efficient and convenient ways of facilitating access to banking services. for instance, onb paved the way for the investments by rural and cooperative banks in automated teller machines. in addition, onb ’ s focus to expand its remittance services resulted in partnerships with commercial banks and money transfer companies. onb has also applied for its own fcdu license. this is aligned with bangko sentral ’ s policy to encourage more overseas workers to transact through the banking system. the way forward indeed, judging from its involvement in countryside banking, onb has become a model among rural banks in terms of both financial soundness and social responsibility. tonight, therefore, i ask the men and women of onb to sustain onb ’ s performance and enhance the bank ’ s