Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

272 INDEPENDENCE CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS

Philippines, there is no reason why the story would not be
repeated.
The building of a railroad system which would traverse
Mindanao from north to south and from east to west also
demands attention. It is never too early to make a survey of
its location and to study the manner of best financing its construction. It need not be finished at a bound; it could be built
little by little. Such a railroad system in co1ijunction with
roads as feeders would be the ideal solution of the transportation problems of the region.
Such, in hurried strokes, are in my opinion the fundamentals
of our collective mission in Mindanao, now and in the future,
with or without independence. That region cries out for help,
for life-giving roots to progress, for initiative and willing hands, r
for the instrumentalities and facilities that would make it attractive to Filipinos of the North. Upon our country's
shoulders now is the mighty incubus of economic dependence.
We pay a tax to foreign nations for almost every necessity of
ours under the sun. When we ride in an automobile, when
we turn on the lights, when we play the piano, when we look
at the watch, when we go to the shows, when we purchase
the materials for our very flag-we pay a tribute to a corporation over the seas. The only thing that could counter-balance
this outflow of our fortunes is for ourselves to extract the
riches from the still virgin lands of such regions as Mindanao
and engage in manufactures ourselves so we could sell more
than we buy. Thereby a great part of our prosperity would
not be as fictitious; as it is now.
A new principle of action must inspire our Mindanao attitude from now on. And the sooner the better, because as
long as it is not fully reclaimed by us, its vastness and its
richness would ever be a tempting morsel to peoples seeking
an outlet for their surplus vigor, industriousness and energy.
With all its available lands, it is there that imperceptible infiltration could ripen, before we are aware of it, into spheres of
influence, with all the havoc that it would wreak on all our
dreams for a greater Mindanao preserved for ourselves and our
posterity.