Thank you to Executive Secretary, Chief Luc Bersamin.
[Please take your seats.]
The honorable members of the Cabinet who are present with us today; Career Executive Service Board Chairperson, Secretary Carlo Nograles; newly appointed Career Executive Service Officers; the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Gawad Career Executive Service Awardees; my fellow workers in government; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
It is with great pleasure that I join you today to recognize the achievements of our career executives and call on you to help in attaining our goals for a prosperous nation.
The CES holds a profound significance in this administration. Established through Presidential Decree No. 1 during my father’s incumbency, [applause] it stands as a cornerstone of our public administration. It is designed to cultivate a cadre of leaders who will foster a highly effective, efficient, and professional bureaucracy.
Those were the very values that were demonstrated by four exceptional individuals who we have recognized today as our Presidential Gawad CES Awardees.
Regional Director Josefina Abilay, Assistant Secretary Teresa Camba, Schools Division Superintendent Miguel Aposin, and OIC Deputy Executive Director Eduardo Quilang:
Your dedication to public service, to finding solutions to problems that beset our people, especially those in isolated areas, and to harnessing technologies available to us fortifies my faith, once more, in the Career Executive Service.
You have elevated the bureaucracy and truly transformed [the] lives of those that you have served. Congratulations on being the worthy recipients of the Presidential Gawad CES!
I’m sure your achievements will serve as an inspiration to all CESOs present and those listening.
Because as public servants, our CESOs have the power to reform our government and our country. You are instrumental in creating a more inclusive and sustainable society for our citizens.
So, we continue to strengthen the CES. This year, we were able to increase the CES occupancy rate from 44 percent to 50 percent from the previous years. [applause]
This is part of our [targets] under the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028.
So, to our newly appointed CESOs, as you join this esteemed group and reaffirm your duties to provide quality and faithful service to the people, I would like to remind you that you have also taken on the Herculean task of upholding the highest ethical standards in your career wherever it is that you are serving.
But that is what the CESB is for, and that is also what we are here for.
The CESB ensures that career administrators will keep cultivating your potential and [will] leave no room for stagnancy in our civil service.
The bar is set quite high every single day, and for a good reason: It is because your work affects millions of Filipinos and inspires generations beyond your tenure.
And with that said, I greet all of you newly appointed CESOs with heartfelt congratulations for this achievement.
This conferment not only completes your membership in the CES, but also confirms your strong sense of purpose that moved you to pursue this path.
I challenge you to join me in reinventing ourselves as civil servants and the bureaucracy, to provide the stability and continuity that we will need for our long-term programs and visions for them to succeed.
Ladies and gentlemen, my dear colleagues: I ask you to continue to embody the four core values of public service—that of patriotism, excellence, integrity, and spirituality—in everything that you do so that this nation will prosper, thrive, and grow under your leadership and your guidance.
Isang karangalan ang makasama kayong lahat sa paglilingkod sa ating mamamayan.
Once again, congratulations to you all!
Maraming, maraming salamat. Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas! [applause]
Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. [applause]
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