President Araneta, Members of the Board, Colleagues and Friends, Good Morning. Before I proceed with my assignment this morning, let me greet all of us a Happy 49th anniversary.

Today, we celebrate our founding day, and no matter how simple the celebration is, we take this opportunity to momentarily pause from our work, first, to give thanks for our 49th birthday, and second, to collectively honor our fellow employees who are also marking milestone years in their service with the Corporation.

Today’s remembrance of our 49th anniversary also formally begins the countdown to our golden anniversary next year 2013. It is therefore fitting that we begin the road to 2013 not only with a review of PDIC’s historic milestones but with a call for greater determination to further improve our capacities and capabilities to deliver our mandates. In the words of Stephen Covey, this is like sharpening the saw of the organization and its people.

PDIC’s mandates of ensuring public welfare by way of deposit insurance, and of contributing to a stable and sound banking system, and the present state of our resources to deliver said mandates continue to be challenged by - successive bank closures, erring bank officers, and the seemingly pervasive attitude among banks of giving good governance a low priority in the hierarchy of their corporate values.

Thus our Claims, RL and LAS people continue to grapple with findings of irregularities, and with prosecuting erring bank officers. In the Examination and Resolution Groups as well, these realities are well documented in our BERs, cited as findings of unsafe and unsound practices. I see that as an institution, we will be preoccupied not only with our daily challenges, but with putting in place measures in the reform agenda for capacity building, and helping improve compliance among banks, especially with good governance.

As our HR has put it, the years ahead will require greater resilience on our part to anticipate and withstand these new challenges, and to overcome adversity. We therefore need to quickly institute measures to increase our capacity to deal with tasks arising from timely intervention and bank failure resolutions. And it is certainly our hope that we can respond to our tasks in relatively good measure, just as we do today.

So this morning, we are privileged to recognize and honor our 15 and 20 year Service Awardees who have given their best in serving PDIC, and the publics we serve.

To our Service Awardees, we congratulate all of you for having been steadfast in your commitment and we thank you for all your contributions to PDIC. We hope that you will share with everyone the best of your experiences, and the skills and knowledge you have gained along the way. We also hope that you will have more fruitful years ahead, and that you will continue to further learn and grow with time. To the 15 and 20 year Service Awardees, we congratulate all of you for a job well done.

Thank you and once again, Happy Anniversary to all.

* Delivered during the 49^th Founding Anniversary of PDIC on June 22, 2012.