Maraming Salamat
Thank you, Secretary Romulo.
Vice President-elect and Mrs. Noli de Castro, former President Fidel Ramos, Senate President and Mrs. Drilon and the members of the Senate, Speaker and Mrs. De Venecia and the members of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice and Mrs. Davide, and the Associate Justices and other members of the Judiciary, Excellencies to Special Envoys and members of the Diplomatic Corps, members of the Cabinet and their ladies, other appointive officials, mayors of Metropolitan Manila, governors and other local officials, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and its men and women, as well as those of the police, members of the various sectors of society, fellow workers in government, mga minamahal kong kababayan:
Mabuhay ang Sambayanang Pilipino!
Taos-pusong pasasalamat. Salamat sa inyo mga minamahal kong kababayan sa ating demokrasya, sa poong maykapal.
This ceremony never fails to impress. It invests the highest official of the land with the chief care of the nation, and the principal responsibility of leaving it better than when she took it in hand.
Let me speak plainly.
When I step down six years from now this will be my 10-point legacy.
I shall have created more than six million jobs, perhaps, even ten million jobs. I shall have supported three million entrepreneurs by giving them loans and helping them become good managers. That way, we shall be establishing a deep foundation for a broad middle class.
I shall have developed one million hectares, if possible two million, of agribusiness land by making them productive and transporting their products to the markets efficiently.
Everyone of school age will be in school in an uncrowded classroom, in surroundings conducive to learning.
I shall have balanced the budget by collecting the right revenues and spending on the right things.
The network of transport and digital infrastructure on which my government embarked in the last three years will have linked the entire country.
Power and water will be regularly provided to all barangays.
Metro Manila will be decongested, with economic activity growing and spreading to new centers of government, business and community in Luzon, in the Visayas and in Mindanao.
The Subic-Clark corridor will be the most competitive international service and logistic center in the Southeast Asian region.
Elections will no longer raise a single doubt about their integrity. The electoral process will be completely computerized. Enough of the manual counting of votes.
And long before that, peace will have come to Mindanao. All insurgents shall have turned their swords into plowshares. They will have become so absorbed into one society that the struggles of the past will be just the stuff of legend.
The divisive issues generated by EDSA 1, 2 and 3 will also be just memories shared by friends from every side in those upheavals. Only the lessons of unity, courage and a just closure kept alive in their hearts.
We must end with justice the conflict brought about by EDSA 1, 2 and 3. There are more things that bind rather than tear us apart as a nation. We are a vibrant country with a lively democracy and fervor burning in our hearts. Industry, patience, fear of God and love for family are common values we hold dear.
The Filipino is known worldwide for his honesty, honor and dignity. We fight for what we believe in.
The last election clearly saw this fighting Filipino spirit at its best. Roco, Lacson, Villanueva and Poe all fought with conviction.
If only we could now fight together, with the same energy and conviction, to preserve our freedoms and advance our nation's progress.
We know now what we can do when we set our minds to it. We know now how well we can unite the people around our respective causes. Can we not work together to rally the nation behind the paramount objective of its salvation?
To win and realize our dream, we must all unite. We must come together by tearing down the barriers of social division and building up economic opportunity for the poor and establishing justice for all. This is the foundation of genuine unity.
Our unity as a people will be defined by a strong vision of a nation built on common values of hard work, shared sacrifice and love of country.
The unity we seek is not one of conformity but unwavering respect for the rules and institutions of democracy. A modern country founded on social justice, enjoying economic prosperity.