banks in discussions to demystify and clarify the concepts behind abif and afif as you operate in an integrated and more globally - active asean market. but even as you prepare for asean integration, i hope that you will always be mindful and never lose sight of the risks before you. always make sure that you operate in a safe and sound manner, keeping in mind the interest of financial consumers who have entrusted their resources with you. finally, i wish to thank the baiphil for its continuing support and cooperation with the bsp in keeping the banking system sound and stable. i particularly thank you for your active participation in the bsp ’ s financial education program by teaching thousands of parents and teachers sound money management. this has enabled our public school teachers to become excellent financial educators, at least two of whom were chosen national awardees under the deped - bsp ’ s guro ng pag - asa awards. the awards were given last tuesday by education secretary leonor briones, yours truly, and members of the monetary board, in the presence of bank industry leaders and baiphil ’ s president liza ortiz and marilen ruiz of your special projects committee. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches baiphil, you walk your talk. you train bank employees and share your financial management expertise with the unbanked and underbanked. all of these to make our banking system stable, inclusive and a channel for promoting inclusive growth. i will always remember baiphil for this. ladies and gentlemen. this is the last time i will join your national convention as governor of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas. i take this opportunity therefore to thank all of you and wish that all your efforts will contribute to make our banking system better, stronger, and more responsive to the needs of our people and our country. maraming salamat! mabuhay po tayong lahat! 1 data taken from the “ asean community in figures 2016 ” published by the asean secretariat. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches

amando m tetangco, jr : rcbc – banking on emerging corporates speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at rcbc ’ s ( rizal commercial banking corporation ) relaunching of its program for small and medium enterprises, makati city, 26 march 2008. * * * ambassador yuchengco, chairman dee, president tan, other officers and staff of rcbc, special guests, good evening. in many countries, including the philippines, small and medium enterprises constitute the backbone of the economy. as such, initiatives that provide meaningful support to smes represent welcome news indeed. it is in this context that i view rcbc ’ s re - launch of its sme lending program. through the years, consolidated lending of the banking sector to smes has shown considerable growth. in 1991, the year republic act no. 6977 or the magna carta for small enterprises took effect, credit to smes amounted to p17 billion. by december 2007, or 16 years later, total loans extended to smes have reached p352 billion. this is roughly 21 times more than the 1991 total. we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas acknowledge the banking sector ’ s commitment to support smes. as a whole, the banking sector has consistently exceeded the mandatory credit allocation for smes under the magna carta for small enterprises. although this law lapsed in august last year, congress has already ratified the bill extending and enhancing the sme law. we expect this to be signed into law in the very near future. in the meantime, the bangko sentral ng pilipinas encourages banks to continue supporting smes. it is in this light, that we commend rcbc for taking a leadership role in promoting and allocating resources for its sme lending program. as one of the major banks in our country, rcbc is bound to influence others to take a similar stance. to me, support for smes translates directly to a vote of confidence for our people and our country. recognized as the biggest employers in our country, smes account for about 80 % of employment generation. if, therefore, we are able to keep the sme sector on a consistent growth track, we would be able to accomplish broad - based and sustained growth for our country. equally important, we would have a strong domestic economy that