Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday said the Philippines must not let another dictatorship happen, underscoring that "greed" for power and wealth is holding back work aimed at impoving the lives of ordinary Filipinos.
Speaking at the third annual Securities and Exchange Commission-Philippine Stock Exchange (SEC-PSE) Corporate Governance Forum on Tuesday, Robredo said "recent disturbing events" make her "long to speak ... about homegrown values," which she said she fears "may be becoming scant in our society."
"Things like integrity and honesty. Justice and the rule of law. Values that turn us into considerate, fair, and kind human beings. All these, simple values though they may be, are the bedrock and the essence of good governance and our fight to focus on the welfare of the bottom billion, who stare at poverty every single day," she said.
She said greed for power and wealth hampers work for the Filipino poor, "the invisibles—the last, the least, and the lost" was most apparent during Martial Law.
"In a political environment such as ours, the welfare of the ordinary Filipino is often shelved in the most terrible name of greed, in the name of greater wealth and power. In our history, this manifested most brutally in a dictatorship where rights were disposed of as swiftly as bodies were," she said.
"We must not let this happen again. We must not allow our people—especially the poor—to be rendered disposable, to be degraded as mere numbers in a game of blood and bullets," she added.
The late President Ferdinand Marcos placed the entire country under martial rule through Proclamation No. 1081 in September 1972.
The Filipinos later toppled the Marcos dictatorship through the famous people power revolt in February 1986.
The Vice President issued the remarks days after the burial of the late Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, which caught many by surprise on Friday.
Robredo, who staunchly opposes the said interment, scored the secrecy by which it was conducted, and in her sharpest statement on the matter reiterated that Marcos was no hero, but "a thief, a murderer, and a dictator."
This is a similar sentiment she shared with another group of business leaders over the weekend, where she said that people and politics and culture are "our main enemies" in striving for economic growth.
At the 2016 Philippine Retail Investors Conference, Robredo said "the risks we face now as a country have to do with divisiveness and senseless disregard for rule of law.
"Such divisiveness and political turmoil distract our economy from the work that would bring growth. And ultimately, it is those that are at the fringes of the economy—the last, the least, and the lost—who are the most vulnerable," she added.
Robredo underscored that "to truly move forward, we must hold a deep reverence for the past, and the truth of its sorrows and victories. We must honor the memory of those who fought for the country, and demand justice from those who betrayed it."
Speaking at the third annual Securities and Exchange Commission-Philippine Stock Exchange (SEC-PSE) Corporate Governance Forum on Tuesday, Robredo said "recent disturbing events" make her "long to speak ... about homegrown values," which she said she fears "may be becoming scant in our society."
"Things like integrity and honesty. Justice and the rule of law. Values that turn us into considerate, fair, and kind human beings. All these, simple values though they may be, are the bedrock and the essence of good governance and our fight to focus on the welfare of the bottom billion, who stare at poverty every single day," she said.
She said greed for power and wealth hampers work for the Filipino poor, "the invisibles—the last, the least, and the lost" was most apparent during Martial Law.
"In a political environment such as ours, the welfare of the ordinary Filipino is often shelved in the most terrible name of greed, in the name of greater wealth and power. In our history, this manifested most brutally in a dictatorship where rights were disposed of as swiftly as bodies were," she said.
"We must not let this happen again. We must not allow our people—especially the poor—to be rendered disposable, to be degraded as mere numbers in a game of blood and bullets," she added.
The late President Ferdinand Marcos placed the entire country under martial rule through Proclamation No. 1081 in September 1972.
The Filipinos later toppled the Marcos dictatorship through the famous people power revolt in February 1986.
The Vice President issued the remarks days after the burial of the late Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, which caught many by surprise on Friday.
Robredo, who staunchly opposes the said interment, scored the secrecy by which it was conducted, and in her sharpest statement on the matter reiterated that Marcos was no hero, but "a thief, a murderer, and a dictator."
This is a similar sentiment she shared with another group of business leaders over the weekend, where she said that people and politics and culture are "our main enemies" in striving for economic growth.
At the 2016 Philippine Retail Investors Conference, Robredo said "the risks we face now as a country have to do with divisiveness and senseless disregard for rule of law.
"Such divisiveness and political turmoil distract our economy from the work that would bring growth. And ultimately, it is those that are at the fringes of the economy—the last, the least, and the lost—who are the most vulnerable," she added.
Robredo underscored that "to truly move forward, we must hold a deep reverence for the past, and the truth of its sorrows and victories. We must honor the memory of those who fought for the country, and demand justice from those who betrayed it."
Source: gmanetwork
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