First of all, allow me to greet the Cabinet members who are here, Secretary Benhur Abalos; and the Executive Secretary, Secretary Luke Bersamin; the Philippine National Police Chief General Benjie Acorda; my fellow workers in government; the newly promoted General Officers of the Philippine National Police; ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the palace, good morning.

Sa Bagong Pilipinas, bawat mamamayan ay ligtas.

Friends and fellow public servants, welcome once again to the palace.

To the 55 officers who will don new ranks today, please accept my congratulations.

I know that these promotions are well earned. They are testaments not only of the length of your service, but the quality of your performance.

The insignias you wear do not only reflect rank. They are badges of your commitment to honor your oath.

So, remember this, the stars on your shoulders are not only sources of pride, but also let them serve as a reminders of the burden that you will have to carry.

As the Good Book says, “to those whom much is given, much is expected.”

There is this misconception that as one nears the pinnacle of one’s career, the attitude towards work is to coast along, wind down, and ease up.

I believe the opposite.

As curtains may close, the dutiful will serve and will keep the best for the last, the devoted will never cease fighting, the dedicated will bow out in spectacular fashion.

Each one of you will spend the last mile of your glorious journey not counting the days to your retirement but chalking up and receiving greater success, and showing off more achievements.

Because that is the only way that we can honor the trust that our people have given, to work for them until the very last day, the last hour, the last minute of your service.

Do it so when it is time for you to troop the line for the last time, you go contented and comforted in the knowledge that you leave the service and the country a better place than what you found.

In the meantime, there is much to be done and as there has been much achieved.

In 2017, there were 295,382 crimes committed.

By 2022, this has gone down to 207,143. We brought it down further to 198,617 in the first full year of this administration.

Index crimes have gone down threefold in the same period . From 107,899 in ‘17 to 38,436 last year.

In the past year, we reached 98 percent crime clearance efficiency.

And we have sustained this continuing crusade in the first two months of 2024.

Compared to January to February of last year, there were fewer cases of theft, of robbery, carnapping, rape, and physical injury.

And we have done it without resorting to legal shortcuts or short-circuiting the process or acts that subvert the rule of law.

Incidents of human rights violations were down by half in 2023 as compared to 2022.

It proves that rules that strengthen the fabric of our democracy, rules that our heroes had died for, rules that enshrined in our Constitution, are not inconveniences in policing but are in fact integral and indispensable in serving up justice.

So, let me make this very clear, we should not be content with the current decrease in crime rates.

While the statistics can be counted, and crime incidents reduced, even in their diminished state the disturbance they cause is still immeasurable.

One crime is committed and one crime too many is having occurred.

The war against crime cannot be won from war rooms with their glitzy monitors.

They are won street by street, block by block, by guts by grit, by police officers who pound the beat, patrol the neighborhood whose people hold them in high esteem.

The unity of our people around a common purpose that Bagong Pilipinas envisions is founded on peace.

Uulitin ko, sa Bagong Pilipinas, bawat mamamayan ay ligtas.

So, I affirm our commitment to make our people safe in their homes and secure in their communities.

I seek the same affirmation from the newly-promoted officials here today.

I ask that you do your work with industry, with integrity, with innovation.

Let us leverage on technology that aids protecting and serving our people. Especially in battling, for example, the latest threat that we have is cybercrime, where the emerging and evolving digital landscape faces threats that can undo its potential contribution to national growth.

All breaches in our digital correspondences and transactions are inimical to the people’s welfare and national interest.

We cannot allow electronic pickpocketing and all forms of robberies which are the digital equivalent of bag snatching.

Cybercriminals also prey on the innocence of our young, by stealing their dignity, and the vulnerabilities of our seniors, who are defrauded of their life savings.

On a larger scale, they rob business firms, raiding their vaults, without breaking them down.

We are strengthening all our efforts anti-cybercrime, from detection and response to case build up and to resolution.

We will continue to train our personnel in combatting cybercrime and enhance our cybersecurity capabilities.

So, as you carry out your mission, let me assure you of this administration’s unwavering support and commitment to enhance the PNP’s capabilities and the welfare of all PNP personnel.

Your well-being and professional growth are paramount, and we continue to invest in your development and success.

And when I talk about the PNP, that is not only those of you who are in uniform but also families without whom— without their continuing support, and who make same number of sacrifices for you to serve well, they must be included in all that we worry about, in all that we care when we talk about the Philippine National Police.

Together, let us create a safer and brighter future for all Filipinos.

Mabuhay ang PNP! [applause]

Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas! [applause]

Maraming salamat at magandang umaga sa inyong lahat. [applause]

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