Category Archives: Speeches

Every room bristles with positive energy when it is filled with young leaders who, for some amazing reason, are never overpowered by the word “CAN’T”. I am told that in each of your fields of work, you have changed lives, transformed communities, and built the kind of hope that inspires others to become heroes in their own right.

I am very pleased to meet each one of you. If you so desire, you can remind the nation that there is greatness in the Filipino. You can be the symbols to prove that we don’t have to be bogged down by the “impossibles” and the “difficults”. You can prove to Filipinos that truly, heroes are made every day whether in Metro Manila or in Saranggani or in Bicol, and when they work together, the normal rules of mathematics do not apply.

You’ve all heard this before. One plus one in collaborative change equals so much more than two. Two heroes who want to change the world together could bring about mountains of change.

I was only 29 when I first became Mayor of Naga City. The challenges seemed overpowering in the beginning. But the triumph is sweeter when the road that leads to it is difficult to climb.

The one connection that links all of you is your advocacy, and therefore your desire to educate and inspire others. With the complex movements of thought that occupy your daily lives, I am sure that while you have already achieved much, you can push yourself to go many steps further.

I urge you to take on more challenges. Dive into deeper conversations. We need young thinkers in good governance and good citizenship, and in pushing for transparency and accountability. We need you to be more involved in protecting marginalized groups, because many of them do not know how to do a better “shoutout” for themselves. We need you to speak up so that those in far-flung areas can be heard.

Might I even suggest that you get involved in government? Not a lot of people realize this, but there is a group of very young people right now making a lot of contribution in pushing the wheels of government to move. Once, while I was waiting for my next appointment, I saw Joan, (she tells me where to go and what time because she handles my schedule) talking to a group of young people.

She introduced me to them; they were her classmates in Ateneo de Manila. They were all 23ish, and they prepare the schedules of many of the cabinet secretaries. They know each other well, so bridging common concerns among the different departments seem to be so easy. I told her and her friends. “Pretty soon, before we know it, you will be running the government.”

They could have taken other jobs that paid much better, are less demanding, and will allow them to have time for more dates. But they decided to serve, and that’s something the nation should be grateful for.

This is what I mean by heroes working together. In our discussion, we can then talk about how public-private partnerships can enhance nation building. Again, thank you for coming to see me.

I have one last request. Could you please “like” DILG on Facebook? ☺

Message
Asia21 Philippines Young Leaders’ Forum
DILG, Quezon City
August 26, 2011

Heroes Working Together:
Higher Math in Collaborative Change
Hon. Jesse M. Robredo
Secretary, Department of Interior and Local Government

There is no discussion, no endeavor, no success more important than making our cities and towns safe and nurturing for children. In the increasingly fragmented communities we live in, nothing could bring us closer together than the welfare of our young. In our day jobs, we might work for the government, the university, or international organizations, but the truth is, the work that is incumbent in all of us is to preserve whatever good there is in this planet so that we could bequeath it to our children in its best possible state.

I sense that the results of this conference will be very useful to chief executives of towns and cities all over the country. You will touch on education, health, child protection and local justice–such conversations are important in my line of work because, if I may paraphrase the President, “kayo, mga bata, ang boss ko.”

Regretfully, things are not looking good for children in the urban setting. In Metro Manila alone, one of four residents live in informal settlements. Think about that figure for a moment. When you go to the mall, that’s one in four of the people you see.
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Before I took over as Secretary of DILG, I served as Mayor for almost as long as the Local Government Code has been in existence. Pushing for reforms, stamping down mediocrity, building accountability and transparency—these are advocacies that take many lifetimes, not just 20 years or multiple terms, to perfect.

This early, however, the powers derived from the Local Government Code are already transforming communities and helping our people to live better lives. Our local officials are more effective and more prepared.They are working harder and they have a deeper understanding of the problems they face.But even as they improve their competencies, the sands of governance shift and the problems at the local level become more difficult to solve.

The world we live in is in a constant state of flux, and that is why local governance needs to be a continuing journey towards excellence. At this juncture today, we have the privilege and opportunity of shaping what will happen in the local government landscape for the next 20 years and beyond.
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You and I are standing at a crucial juncture—a turning point, if you will—in our country’s history. We have gone through two (2) unfinished EDSA revolutions. We have another opportunity with a popular President who wishes nothing for himself and believes in the best in us.

Pres. Aquino is right to keep believing in the best in us. Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, and Apolinario Mabini, all Masons, have captured the great Filipino aspirations. Many individual Filipinos in our day and age prove our nation’s greatness.

But what do we have to show for their brilliance? An erratic pace of development. Intermittent progress. I know we often ask ourselves if we really have what it takes to claim our rightful place among the region’s tigers?
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Ikaw at ako, lahat tayo, ay gumagalaw sa isang mundong walang katiyakan. Habang sa Asya ay bumabagyo, sobrang init naman sa America. Ngunit sa isang iglap, maaring bumaliktad ang klima.

Nagpapakita na ng kapaguran ang ating planeta. Kaya hindi tayo pwedeng matulog, lalong lalo na sa pagtanggol sa kalikasan. Halimbawa na lamang ang pagpapabaya sa illegal logging. Sayang ang lahat ng pagod natin sa paglatag ng daang matuwid, kung ito ay masisira ng kalamidad dahil sa mahinang pamamahala.

Tandaan natin walang trabaho, walang kabuhayan sa isang patay na planeta. Uulitin ko: there are no jobs, no future in a dead planet. Calamities destroy jobs, businesses…lives.
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This nation has always held the promise of greatness. Our history records countless moments of greatness that have earned the admiration of the world. The stark images of the EDSA revolution remain as stirring as ever more than two decades later.

Yet many say that promise of greatness is still an elusive dream. Many predict we will never be great, we will never forge ahead, we will never actualize our dream of greatness.

I say: No, we are not a basket case, forever to become the sick man of Asia! But we do need to push ourselves harder. We need to instill collective self-control. We need to learn to replace national envy with genuine cooperation.
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They say that the Philippines is a country with an unfinished revolution. That is quite a feat in itself, after two popular uprisings. Columnist Conrado de Quiros said it best: “We blaze forth in one flash of time only to stumble in darkness afterward. …We have shown ourselves to be so full of promise, but so lacking in commitment.”

The ambition that we have in this administration is to break this cycle of mediocrity. We dream of a country that will blaze forward and never again lose its momentum.

The one thing that can make this happen is good governance.
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For the past 20 years, the Fire National Training Institute (FNTI) has produced dedicated and skilled firefighters who, along with our police and other men in uniform, have protected our nation’s way of life. Our communities, our cities–our nation–rely on you 24 hours a day to keep homes and places of work, recreation, and worship safe.

Ladies and gentlemen, the crux of the matter is this: under your protection, Filipinos can live the good life in friendly communion with neighbors and nature. Few things are more dramatic and urgent than the act of snatching life and property out of harm’s way. As graduates of the FNTI, this is now your role, and will be your sworn duty and honor in the coming years.
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It is with great honor that I accept this award from the UP Alumni Association, more because of the light that it shines on good governance than on me.

Talk on the street is that people are hungry and are desperate for jobs. In their suffering, some say good governance is useless. That they would rather accept some dishonesty so long as there is food on the table.

It could be that people are embracing the role of victim as a means of shedding responsibility for making good governance work. Or it could simply be that they are impatient and have lost their faith in the straight path.
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Men and women in uniform, who have vowed to serve and protect the nation, are expected to demonstrate the kind of strength that endures even in the line of fire. This achievement of courage, duty, and strength is something the police owes in large part/ to the National Police Commission’s support for their mandate of serving and protecting the country. In distilled form, this dedication to duty and courage in the face of danger—the outcomes of an enabling and hardworking Napolcom—is therefore what we celebrate today, our 45th anniversary.

We recognize and appreciate generations of our police forces, who have sacrificed lives, comfort, even family and community, to fulfill the duties they have embraced since they put on their uniforms for the very first time. They represent almost five decades of men and women who intimately know the difficulties of their profession, and do not flinch in the face of danger.
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