Mr. President, on behalf of the heads of the diplomatic missions accredited to the Philippine government, I have the great honor to express warmest congratulations, Your Excellency, and best wishes for the success or the accomplishment of your office as President of the Republic of the Philippines.

The first word of a book is always the most important. It satisfies the curiosity of imagining its content and invites to read it. But some books have empty pages and wait for words to be written, to be read with the unfolding of the events.

The initial page of the first chapter of this book, Mr. President, is dated June 30, 2016 and bears your name and it also bears the name of every Filipino within the country and abroad who are bound by ties for affection and gratitude to this nation, its geography, history and tradition.

Starting today, all the women and men of this country are called to write on the blank pages of this book, engrave their aspirations and dreams, their convictions and ideas.

This book, Mr. President, contains the names of your fellow citizen to whom you, in the name of the Constitution, have pledged to be in a just and humane society and promote the common good.

We are grateful to you, Mr. President, for your kind invitation to this historic encounter and offer to the diplomatic family the possibility to great you personally in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship and collaboration between the Philippines and the government of their countries and international organizations they represent.

I would like to invite you now dear colleagues in the Diplomatic Corps and distinguished guests to raise your glasses: To the well-being of His Excellency President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and to the prosperity and progress of the Filipino people.

God bless the Philippines! Mabuhay!