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.

ECONOMIC SECTION

Second Session
The second session of the Economic Section opened
with an able short address by the Chairman, the Honorable Francisco Ortigas, which impressed upon the
delegates the seriousness of the economic problems of
any independent country and the difficulties which
must perforce be met in their solution. He admonished the delegates of the danger of following hard
and fast rules in the solution of problems which are
highly complex and caused by many. different factors.
There were three papers read. The first one was
that of Don Leopoldo R. Aguinaldo, President of the
Philippine Chamber of Commerce:
FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE UNDER
INDEPENDENCE
By DON LEOPOLDO R. AGUINALDO,
President, Philippine Chamber of Commerce.
I understand that this Independence Congress, the first of
its kind in the country, has convened not only as an unbreakable act of faith to the sacred cause of our liberty, but also to
find means, define orientation, discuss plans and ways, which
would serve as cements for the stability of an independent
government and would assure the continuous material progress
of the Philippines as a sovereign nation with a right to participate for its own benefit in the concert of free nations.
With this double objective the celebration of this Congress
is very opportune, because we show before the world that we
are one in demanding our final emancipation and we are con65