Mga Kababayan, nakikiisa ako sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino na masayang nagtitipon ngayon sa pagsalubong ng Bagong Taon.
Nakikisama ako sa bawat isa sa inyo na mataimtim na nanalangin na harinawa ang darating na mga araw ay mapuno ng pag-asa na hatid ng kasaganahan para sa lahat.
Kabilang ako sa mga mahigpit na nananampalataya sa ating kakayahan at sa kabutihan ng Maykapal na lahat ng ating mga pinapangarap ay sana matupad.
Tonight, as friends and family gather, our family joins yours in welcoming a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
We look back to the past year pleased with what we have done. We look forward to the new year with the pledge to build better and more.
We have set high hopes for the days ahead and we know that these can only be achieved with hard work.
Bagong taon, bagong pag-asa at bagong panata na anuman ang mga balakid na haharapin ay sama-samang nating lalagpasan.
No doubt, the coming year will bring its fair share of new challenges.
But these we have weathered before, like the great tribulations our forefathers defeated, and, as the proud inheritors of this indefatigable spirit, we too shall overcome.
Ang lahi ni Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini ay hindi basta magpapalupig. This is a land of heroes – past and present.
The hard-fought gains of 2023 have prepared us for whatever difficulties 2024 will present.
Batid ko na ang pag-unlad ay hindi dapat naririnig lamang sa talumpati o mga katagang nababasa. Nararamdaman din dapat ng marami.
And there are other achievements not captured by headline economic barometers.
We built 33 additional specialty centers, over two thousand classrooms, and seven additional cold chain facilities.
We facilitated investments in renewable energy through the award of renewable energy contracts with a total potential capacity of around 121,000 megawatts.
We also completed eight water supply projects with 147 additional water projects being implemented in preparation for next year.
We will continue to purge government of rules that slow the delivery of public services because when projects get delayed, progress is denied our people.
And this commitment to efficiency and service will extend to documents and licenses because service delayed is also service denied.
But not all public projects, however, are sunk into the ground.
A great bulk of this are assistances to our brothers and sisters who are facing immense challenges in life.
But TUPAD, AICS, MAIP and other programs of the government are not just safety nets that catch those who fell into hard times.
They are the scaffolds upon which one can climb from where they find themselves now.
This is the principle behind the free college program, and its many subsets of scholarships, from new doctors to the students whom we prepared for their future careers in the field of science and technology, engineering, mathematics, and other professions.
This is the driving force behind livelihood grants and product incubation assistance. They serve as government equity to our skilled and talented young people so their dreams will turn into reality.
This is the reason why we continue to give support to our farmers, from seedlings to fertilizers to fuel, because their sweat alone should not nurture the crops they grow in feeding the nation.
Our social programs provide welfare armor to the vulnerable, but they also provide the means for them to overcome the very state that they find themselves in.
Thus, most ayudas are not a type of permanent welfare, because we do not promote a life of dependency.
Kaya nga, ang pangunahin at tamang konsepto ay pantawid, hindi palagian. Ang epektibong ayuda ay hindi binuburo ang tao sa kahirapan. The objective is to graduate from poverty.
Sa pagsapit ng bagong taon ang bawat Pilipino ay mayroong New Year’s Resolution o pangakong pagbabago sa kanilang buhay.
Ang new year’s resolution ng inyong pamahalaan ay ang puspusang pagsisikap upang maggawad ng mahusay at tapat na serbisyo na susi ng pagpaganda ng buhay nating lahat.
Let us not forget that great things are always possible – so long as we keep the faith in each other, in our nation, and in God.
And as long as values that bind us keep us united in our collective pursuit of shared progress, we will succeed.
Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipinas!
Manigong Bagong Taon po sa ating lahat!
–End–
