• From the Office of the Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on the Year-end Accomplishment Report of PRRD
• President Duterte on Rizal Day: Unite for development

President Duterte launched an unprecedented anti-drug war that saw the surrender of more than a million drug addicts and charted a new course in international relations with his pursuit of an independent foreign policy which means moving strongly and swiftly towards regional economic rebalancing for closer integration. The Philippines has forged closer ties with ASEAN, China, Japan and Russia.

As the President walked the extra mile for peace, the Chief Executive made the country’s economic growth the fastest among emerging Asian economies and lowered unemployment to its lowest level in more than a decade.

The Duterte administration likewise unveiled a budget to usher in the golden age of infrastructure and bring forth the promise of real change in the country. To restore faith in government, he moved the bureaucracy to effectively implement programs that benefit the poorest. Basic services, formerly broken or unavailable, are now working. More passengers are now being served by our trains while driver’s license cards are now ready for pick up. Free education, free hospitalization and medicine, and free irrigation are now within the grasp of the marginalized, the disadvantaged and the vulnerable.

The President hit the ground running in the first six months and we expect much more will be done in the succeeding months and years. After all, the President’s heart is in the right place, and he has only the interests of the Filipino people and the nation in his mind first and foremost.

The President arrived at Rizal Park around 7 am Friday, December 30 and was given arrival honors. After that he led the flag-raising as well as the wreath laying rites for the national hero.

In his Rizal Day message, the President said the country is a fortunate recipient of Rizal’s sacrifices, the freedom that he fought for and the self-identity and the honor that he strongly believed Filipinos ought to defend.

“Beyond his prodigious and various talents, Rizal is best honored when we regard him as a beacon and moral compass in these challenging and perilous times,” the President said.

In Rizal’s time, the country was fighting for independence, but today, Filipinos are fighting for freedom from poverty, crime, illegal drugs and corruption, he said.

Those are the country’s present enemies, he stressed, noting that the government needs the active involvement of all sectors to win the current war and bring about genuine change in society.

As the country transforms and develops, there must be national unity, the President said, adding every Filipino should manifest the same fervor and dedication that motivated Rizal to action.

“Let us therefore emulate the traits of Rizal; let us be willing heroes – patriotic, faithful and loyal to our Motherland,” he said.

The President hoped that Friday’s commemoration of the martyrdom of Rizal awaken the sense of heroism in every Filipino, committing to advocate good governance, rule of law, and end criminality and all forms of corruption.

He also urged the people to express compassion towards the poor and the less privileged.###PND