“The heroes of our liberation would be proud to know that we have thrown off the ‘ominous yoke of domination’; never again to be subservient to any external force that directs or determines our destiny.”
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said during the 125th Anniversary of the Philippine Independence and Nationhood, as he assured the Filipino people of his support to free the country from the corrosive political and social conditions that hold the nation captive.
In his speech, President Marcos said that he is honored to stand as the country’s representative to commemorate the heroism of the Filipino heroes who fought for the country’s independence.
He also urged the people to pause and reflect on how far the country had come “from that transformative event” in Philippine history.
“I appeal for unity and solidarity in our efforts to perfect our hard-fought freedom, and achieve genuine national progress. Heeding this call will indispensably require patriotism and a strong sense of community, diligence, industry, and responsibility from all our citizens,” Marcos said.
Marcos said that despite the evolutionary developments making the country a free, independent, and democratic state, there are manifold “unfreedoms” prevailing in society that stand in the way of human development.
Poverty, inadequate economic opportunities, disabling rather than enabling living conditions, inequality, and apathy are corrosive political and social conditions that hinder the nation’s complete freedom and development.
“We will strive to remove the unfreedoms. We will aim to feed the hungry, free the bound, and banish poverty. These are primordial moral and existential imperatives laid upon your Government,” he said.
“Through wise policies, we will foster a highly conducive and enabling environment in which the exercise of true human compassion shall allow for the full development of the Filipino.”
The administration, he said, has laid down the Philippine Development Plan for the next six years, noting it will be implemented with vigor and consistency.
The government will be responsible, Marcos said, as he vowed to lead Filipinos on the long and uphill road to achieving freedom from hunger, neglect, and fear.
“But as integral actors in our democracy, we are all involved in this collective pursuit of real freedoms. That duty rests with all of us,” he said, urging Filipinos to bind ourselves to support a free and independent Republic.
Everyone, he insisted, has an obligation to the nation’s national heroes and to the next generations of Filipinos to support and maintain a free and independent republic.
The Philippines is celebrating the 125th anniversary of Philippine Independence and Nationhood with the theme, “Kalayaan. Kinabukasan. Kasaysayan.”
The Philippine Independence Day, celebrated on the 12th of June every year, commemorates the solemn proclamation of independence of the Philippines from Spain, announced from the window of the Aguinaldo House in Kawit, Cavite, on June 12, 1898. | PND
