FILE PHOTO: VP Leni Robredo at the 2nd COMELEC Presidential Debate (VP Leni Media Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — “Assert the truths of our history,” Vice President Leni Robredo told Filipinos on the 124th Independence Day on Sunday.
According to Robredo, asserting the truth is among the actions that ordinary citizens can do moving forward.
“We are called to forge on, aware of all that we have had to go through as a unified nation. As ordinary citizens, there is much we can do,” she said in a statement.
“Be open and loving; help those in need. Affirm what is right and true, and assert the truths of our history. Find inspiration in one another, and from those who came before. Stand firm on a story that can never be changed, stolen, erased— a story that binds us according to a collective past, and gives us the strength to march towards a collective future,” she added.
The vice president said that the country’s history holds Filipinos together, noting that “victory is not achieved overnight.”
“Every year, we commemorate the path we took to get to the moment the Philippine flag was first waved: The struggle, the names of those who sacrificed, the deep love for country. This is our history, which threads together those who fought before, those who were lost, and those who were fortunate enough to witness the declaration of independence in Kawit,” said Robredo.
“It is a thread that can never be broken— even now, it holds together Filipinos who dream of a better life, regardless of stature, wherever in the world they may be. It reminds us: Victory is not achieved overnight. It is comprised of many chapters of exhaustion and fear, of courage and greatness, of perseverance and struggle. Any freedom that our ancestors might have achieved is but one step in the long path towards national fruition— a journey that we continue to tread until today,” she went on.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte called on Filipinos to unite for the “glory and triumph” of the country.
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