To all of the distinguished guests here; and of course, most importantly our newly appointed and elected officials of the Liga ng [mga] Barangay and the SK officials; all my fellow workers in government; ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the Palace — Malacañan Palace.

I extend my congratulations to all of you, to the newly elected Liga ng [mga] Barangay sa Pilipinas Officers and the SK National and Island Representatives.

I am very excited to be able to welcome you here into the Palace because without a doubt, public service begins with you — at the Barangay.

You are the first responders in times of emergency.

You are at the forefront of our efforts in building a strong, prosperous, and united society.

Kabilang kayo [sa mga] mukha ng Bagong Pilipinas, kaya naman ay inaasahan namin ang inyong pangunguna sa pagbabago upang mapaigting ang dekalidad na serbisyo publiko.

I have always said and this is borne of my experience in my time in local government and that it is all very well for the national government — dito kami, tinatrabaho namin, marami kaming ginagawa para pagandahin ang buhay ng ating mga mamamayan.

At kahit na napakaganda at napakagaling at napakahusay ng aming pinaplano, ang aming ginagawa, kapag hindi kami tinutulungan hanggang sa barangay level ay wala ring mangyayari. Hindi pa rin mararamdaman ng taumbayan.

Kaya talagang — huwag niyong iisipin na dahil sinasabi mataas ‘yung governor, mataas ‘yung mayor, tapos kami barangay lang kami, SK lang kami. Huwag niyong iispin ‘yun dahil napakahalaga ng inyong trabaho. Napakahalaga ang ginagampanan ninyo na katungkulan para sa ating pagpaganda ng Pilipinas.

So, one of the — I always say that my time as governor, my time in the local government was the time that I learned what happens at the ground level, how things work at the ground level.

And I learned very, very quickly that the barangay officials and all of the other, ang mga volunteer natin, ‘yung mga BHW, ‘yung mga ating daycare center na volunteer. Lahat ‘yan, lahat sila ay napakahalaga.

At ‘yun na nga, kapag may — sabihin na lang natin hindi natin naipaliwanag nang mabuti sa ating mga barangay officials na ito ‘yung ating pinaplano, ito ang gagawin ng national government, ito ang kailangan namin sa local government, ito ‘yung kailangan namin sa mga barangay, pagka hindi namin naipaliwanag nang mabuti ‘yan, hindi talaga bababa, kahit napakaganda, kahit napakahusay, kahit napakatama ang aming ginagawa, hindi talaga aabot sa baba.

Kailangan niyong laging — kailangan laging nasa isip ninyo na kung hindi maganda ang ating pagdala ng serbisyo sa taumbayan at the local level, wala ng kabuluhan ‘yun, hindi talaga mararamdaman. And that’s why this is such an important part of the way that we plan our economic policies, our political policies, all of these.

And that is why, we are trying to make sure that the voice of the local governments, not only at the provincial level, not only at the municipal and city level, but hanggang sa barangay level, hanggang nga sa volunteers, dapat kailangan pakinggan.

And that’s why we — umaasa kami sa inyo na nandiyan kayo na tumutulong talaga sa amin, tumutulong para pagandahin. Ngunit, nakikinig naman kami, nakikinig naman ang national government sa inyo at kailangan namin malaman kung ano ba talaga ang naging sitwasyon doon sa lugar ninyo.

Wala ng mas eksperto sa bawat komunidad kung hindi ang leader ng komunidad na ‘yun. Lagi kong pinagmamalaki, pinagmamayabang ko noong governor ako, wala ng mas nakakaalam sa Ilocos Norte kung hindi ako. Nobody knows more about my province than me because I’m the governor. And that translates to the local government, to the barangay officials.

Nobody knows more about your barangay than you. That is why it is important that we listen to you and we do. We will listen to you and you tell us because ang lagi kong sinasabi noong pumasok ako sa national politics, naging senador ako, lagi kong sinasabi sa mga kapwa senador ko, makinig kayo sa mga local dahil ang dala nila hindi naman problema lamang. Ang dala nila, may solusyon din ‘yan.

Tayo nandito tayo sa Maynila, nagdedebate tayo, hindi natin alam talaga kung ano ‘yung sitwasyon doon. Makinig ka doon. Pero hindi rin natin alam na solusyonan ‘yan dahil hindi natin alam ‘yung mga detalye doon sa kondisyon ng bawat lugar. Kaya’t kailangan pakinggan natin sila.

O sige, siyempre ‘yung iba… Lahat naman ‘yung talagang sincere na local government officials, talagang naghahanap ng solusyon. Hindi naman… Araw-araw nilang kaharap ang tao. Papaano? Every day nagrereklamo. “Boss, bakit naman ganito? Ba’t ‘di pa ninyo naayos ito?”

Kaya it’s very — I know it’s in the interest of local government officials dahil ang difference ng national officials sa local government, kami kaharap namin politiko, kayo kaharap ninyo taumbayan. That’s why that connection has to be brought all the way up to the national government. And that is why I hold in such importance the inputs that you give us.

The SK, for example… We are one of — we are probably the youngest workforce in Asia now, ang Pilipinas dahil ang average age ng ating mga manggagawa ay napaka — mga 25, 26. Iyong iba, matatanda na. Kaya’t napakahalaga na ‘yung mga kabataan ay maisama natin.

I have been in the youth movement for most of my political life and even before my political life and it is very clear that government, for example, needs to be revitalized, needs to have new blood, needs to have new ideas, needs to have that determination and that energy, that maybe the very high-ups have lost sight of.

Napakaganda makita na ang mga kabataan talagang hindi nila tinitigilan ang kanilang paniniwala na ipinaglalaban.

I remember nandito si — nandito ‘yung mga ibang KB. Ang KB dati ‘yung Kabataan Barangay. Simple lang ‘yung slogan ng Kabataan Barangay — maki-alam, maki-alam, maki-alam. Tama ‘yun. Dapat ganun pa rin ang gagawin ng kabataan.

Kung mayroon kayong nakikitang mas magandang pamamaraan, sabihin ninyo. Isigaw ninyo. Iyong mga matatanda, hindi makikinig sa inyo, pero pilitin ninyo. Hindi naman… Lahat naman pagka may pangyayari na ganyan, sasabihin — kung maganda ang naging resulta, anong masama doon? Kung hindi matagumpay, hindi maganda ang lumabas, hindi bale, sige next, subukan natin ibang bagay, subukan natin ibang sistema.

But you have to be there, we need your energy. We need your new blood. Tingnan na lang natin. For example, sa pamumuhay natin ngayon, ang naging napakahalaga ang teknolohiya.

Ngayon, sasabihin natin, o siyempre tayo pinag-aaralan namin ‘yan, my generation, we study, we study. But in my generation, hindi namin — hindi importante ang teknolohiya. Nagugulat kami makita ‘yung six years old humawak ng kahit na ano, Game Boy o computer, wala. Parang balewala. Tayo iniisip, ito ba ‘yung pipindutin ko?

But that kind of intuitive and instinctive knowledge from the youth is what we need. And we are… The future is going to be technology-driven and that is why the natural instinct of younger people, when it comes to technology is important. It has to be part of all our thinking. It has to be part of all our planning.

So, kaya’t nabanggit ko lahat ‘yan ay dahil nais ko lang naman talagang ipaalam sa inyo na dahil nga sa aking karanasan bilang local government official ay asahan po ninyo na lahat ng inyong mga iniisip, lahat ng inyong mga suggestion, lahat ng inyong sinasabi sa amin ay pinapakinggan namin ‘yan.

Ngayon, hindi sasabihin na basta sinabi niyo, gagawin namin. Pero siyempre that will be part, it will be part — the input that you give us will be part of our planning, will be part of how we move forward. Because dito sa area na ito maraming lumapit sa akin na ganito so alam ko na. Dito sa area naman ‘to, naiba, alam ko na. So, papaano natin paplanuhin nang mabuti ‘yan?

And so, you are — I just want to remind you of the extremely important place that the local governments, at the barangay level play in this government’s decision-making, in this government’s planning, in this government’s hope for the future of our country.

Because then, let’s return — back to the SK, we’re not… What we’re doing here, itong mga nakikita ninyo na leaders sa national, hindi na namin ginagawa para sa amin ‘to, para na sa mga kabataan ‘yan.

So, we have to hear from the young people. We have to hear from the ordinary citizens what is the future that you want? What is the future that you feel we can achieve? And how do you suggest that we do it?  These questions are very, very important and these are questions that we ask of the local government and I promise you, we will listen to those answers.

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

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