Like tens of thousands of Filipinos, I became an instant admirer of the Gallant Four – PO1 Danilo Maalab, Army Pfc. Antonio Cadiente, Navy Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez, and Airman Second Class Gener Laguindan – who stood as honor guards beside Tita Cory during her final journey home.

Standing at full attention under sun and rain for nine hours was no ordinary feat. Honor guards are normally relieved after a maximum of 30 minutes because of the physical strain involved in standing motionless for an extended period.

The exemplary discipline and endurance they displayed made not only the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police proud, but the entire nation as well.

I can imagine Tita Cory smiling from above, flashing her trademark “L” sign by way of acknowledging the sacrifice and selflessness of the thousands who accompanied her and most especially the Gallant Four.

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In her State of the Nation Address (SoNA) the other week, President Arroyo singled out Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ efforts to keep the Philippine banking system stable and resilient.

Just a few days before the SoNA, Moody’s Investors Service announced that it has upgraded the Philippines’ credit rating.

Credit ratings given by foreign credit rating firms such as Moody’s are a closely watched indicator. International lenders use this as a basis for pricing their loans. Investors take this into account in deciding whether or not to invest in a particular country.

Moody’s said the level of the country’s foreign reserves was one of the factors that led to the credit rating upgrade.

In June of this year, the Philippines’ Gross International Reserves (GIR) reached US$39.6 billion, the highest on record! This means that our country has enough money to support payments equivalent to seven months of imports. That is more than double the global standard of three months. The present level of our GIR also means that we have three times the capacity to pay for our maturing obligations – a reassuring sign for international lenders.

The BSP has also been successful in implementing its mandate of maintaining price stability.

Through bold and responsive policy actions, inflation rate in June, 2009 dropped to 1.5 percent. The rate further eased in July to 0.2 %, the lowest in 22 years! The highest ever recorded inflation rate in the country was 50 percent in 1984.

In many ways, this is good news for the Filipino people.

A low inflation rate means that same amount of money can pay for more goods and services.

Furthermore, low and stable prices have enabled the BSP’s Monetary Board to ease its policy rates, the rate at which the BSP borrows from and lends to banks. The lower benchmark rates, in turn, are gradually being passed on to the consumers who are starting to enjoy cheaper housing, vehicle and appliance loans.

Pag-Ibig housing loans are now at single-digit levels. Most banks have also reduced car loan rates to single digit, thus allowing easier payment terms.

Lower interest rates also reduce the cost of doing business, provide a stable environment conducive to long-term investments and promote economic activities that create jobs for our people.

The upgrade in the Philippines’ credit rating could also be attributed to our sound and stable banking and financial sector, which the BSP is mandated to supervise. Except for a few errant rural banks which have since been closed, the rest of the industry is adequately capitalized to finance economic activities. Bucking international trends, Philippine bank assets continue to grow.

The remarkable thing about our situation is that, unlike in the United States and other countries, no special measures or extraordinary government assistance had been required to protect the banking system from external shocks.

With the President’s endorsement of further reforms in the BSP charter, the BSP will be more adequately empowered to perform its task of ensuring the health of our financial system and the economy as well.

We call on the leadership of both houses of Congress to pass the needed remedial legislation soon.

Note: You may e-mail us at totingbunye2000@gmail.com.