*President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the 125th Philippine Independence Day celebration at the Quirino Grandstand, Manila on June 12, 2023. (Juan Carlo de Vela)*
*(Speech by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr at the 125th anniversary of Philippine Independence and Nationhood delivered at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on June 12, 2023.)* Sa Araw ng Kalayaan, isang napakalaking karangalan ang tumayo bilang kinatawan ng sambayanan at manguna sa pagkikilala at pagsasariwa sa katapangan at paninindigan ng ating ninuno’t bayani, na siyang nagbunsod ng matamis na kasarinlan na ating tinatamasa ngayon. Mananatili ang mga ito sa ating alaala at sa lahat ng ating salinlahi, na taos-pusong tatanaw magpakailanman ng utang na loob sa kanilang ipinamalas na kagitingan.
One hundred and twenty-five years since the Declaration of Independence in Cavite, it is appropriate to pause, to reflect on how far we have come from that profound transformative event in our history. The heroes of our liberation would be proud to know that we have thrown off the “ominous yoke of domination;” never again to be subservient to any external force that directs or determines our destiny. We have stayed the course and adhered to their ideals for our free and independent country: popular, representative, and responsible. We have evolved into a healthy and vibrant Republic, with a stable government, supported by growing institutions and mechanisms, all of whose mandate and authority ultimately emanate from and are owed to the Filipino people. Then as now, it remains an unassailable, self- evident principle that sovereignty resides in our people. Ours is a government peopled by men and women of laws. We have a legal framework firmly in place that can enforce public order and bring justice which operates within a judiciary designed as an independent and impartial tribunal. But in spite of these evolutionary developments which are the hallmarks of a free, independent, and democratic state, we still have a long, daunting journey ahead to fulfill the dreams of our forefathers. It is said that there are manifold “unfreedoms” prevailing in society that stand in the way of human development.  These are the corrosive, political, and social conditions that make the nation not as free as we would like to profess and to believe, such as: poverty; inadequate economic opportunities; disabling rather than enabling living conditions; inequality and apathy. Our independence was not the end, but merely the principal means to achieve full development of the Filipino. Our success and the pursuit of happiness are not just the ultimate goals of our independence; these are to be seen as the expanded notions of human freedom. We subscribe to this; for after all, it is the “blessings of independence and democracy” that we have avowed to secure for ourselves and for our posterity. A hundred twenty-five years on, we will view our nation’s “development as freedom,” with more focus and determination. We will strive to remove the unfreedoms.  We will aim to feed the hungry, free the bound, and banish poverty. These are primordial moral and existential imperatives that are laid upon your government.  Through wise policies, we will foster a highly conducive and enabling environment in which the exercise of true human compassion shall allow for the full development of the Filipino. We have laid down the Philippine Development Plan for the next six years. We will implement such with vigor and with consistency. In this administration, the government will be responsible.  I have said it before, I shall say it once more: I will be with you on that long and uphill road to achieve our dream of freedom – freedom from hunger, freedom from neglect, freedom from fear. But as integral actors in our democracy, we are all involved in this collective pursuit of real freedoms.  That duty rests with all of us. So once again, I appeal for unity and solidarity in our efforts to perfect our hard-fought freedom, and achieve genuine national progress.  Heeding this call will indispensably require patriotism and a strong sense of community, diligence, industry, and responsibility from all our citizens. As President, I call to mind and once again declare the exhortation of the leader of the Philippine revolutionary government and the first President of the Republic of the Philippines, General Emilio Aguinaldo, and he said: “We cannot free ourselves unless we move forward united in a single desire.” This is our single desire: to be genuinely free by achieving full development, as a single, united, and indivisible Filipino nation. With this desire, let us renew the pledge made by our forefathers: imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence. Let us bind ourselves to support our free and independent Republic, if need be with our lives, with our fortunes, and with our most sacred blessing — our honor. We owe this to our national heroes, who had won for us this freedom that we now enjoy.  We owe this to the next generations of Filipinos to whom we swear to bequeath a stronger and genuinely free Republic . Mabuhay ang malayang sambayanang Pilipino! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas magpakailanman! Maraming salamat po at magandang umaga sa inyong lahat!