MAY 11 — President Benigno S. Aquino III has reported the continuing reforms his administration has instituted in the Philippines when he met his “bosses” —- the Filipino community here in Vancouver, Canada on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
In his speech facing hundreds of Filipino Canadians here, President Aquino trumpeted the continuing transformation in the Philippines from being a corrupt country into a progressive nation brought about by good governance.
“Aminin ko ho, maski ako, pagkaupo bilang Pangulo, naisip ko ring parang imposibleng solusyunan ang mga problemang minana natin. Para po kasing kada araw, panibagong anomalya at dagdag na problema ang ating nadidiskubre. Pero hindi po tayo sumuko. Sa abot ng ating makakaya, tinutupad natin ang ating panata: Ipamana ang Pilipinas na di hamak na mas maunlad, kaysa ating dinatnan,” the President said.
“Maglilimang taon pa nga lang po tayo sa Daang Matuwid, pero nakikita na natin ang transpormasyon ng ating lipunan. Nagagawa na nating posible ang mga dating imposible. Itinututok natin ang paglilingkod, hindi sa sarili, hindi sa gawaing tiwali, kundi sa kapakanan ng mas nakakarami,” he added.
President Aquino boasted of the reforms being felt by the country in the economy, justice system, education, trade, employment, infrastructure development, weather forecasting system, and Armed Forces modernization.
“Ang tutok natin: ituloy ang ating agenda ng reporma. Kung dati, pangarap lang ang lahat ng ating napagtagumpayan, ngayon totoo na ang mga ito. Tinutugunan na natin ang mga problema, para hindi na ito maipamana pa sa susunod sa atin,” he said.
“Pinapalawak natin ang oportunidad sa bansa, at pinaghahandaan ang kinabukasan, para hindi na maging sapilitan ang pangingibang-bayan. Batid natin: Bigyan lang ng pagkakataon, tiyak, magpapakitang-gilas ang Pilipino,” he added.
Canada is home to about 700,000 Filipinos. Around 136,000 Filipinos reside in Vancouver.
With the presence of British Columbia’s Premier Christy Clark and Minister of National Defense and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney and Minister of International Trade Edward Fast, President Aquino thanked Canada’s government for taking care of the welfare of the Filipinos living and working in Canada.
“Their respective works in the aspects of cultural relations and trade have contributed in bringing our two nations closer to each other,” he said.
He described Premier Clark as a “partner” of the Filipino people.
He cited the Memorandum of Understanding concerning Cooperation in Human Resources Deployment and Development, which the Philippines signed with the Province of British Columbia.
“We indeed laud her efforts, and we hope to see more of her initiatives translate to the mutual benefit of our countrymen here, and the rest of the province and its communities,” said the President.
In her speech, Premier Clark commended the Filipinos for being “strivers.”
“People with a sense of adventure, people who are brave, people who are loyal and patriotic, people with resilience and a capacity for hard work and, most of all, the thing that we know the Filipino community best: strivers,” she said.
She also announced the opening of “a million new jobs” in the province in the next seven years.
“All of you, all of you can become part of that, should be a part of that in running businesses. In becoming people who are going in inter-trainings — lawyers, doctors, accountants, managers, pipe fitters, drivers, all of those jobs, all of those bleachers are available for British Colombians and people who want to participate,” she told Filipinos.
She also referred to temporary migrant workers as “potential new Canadians,” which elicited a loud applause from the crowd.
For the part of Minister Kenney, he also welcomed the growing population of Filipinos in Canada under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
He said that Canada will continue to work closely with Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, whom he and Clark lauded for efforts to protect the rights of migrant workers in Canada.
Kenney said the Philippines will be the top country for Canadian humanitarian development assistance and a priority country for investment and trade.
He also reiterated the potential exploratory discussions towards having a free trade agreement between the Philippines and Canada.
“One of the decisions we have taken is to support the Filipino communities who are working hard to send remittances back home for their families, and so we decided to set up a framework for accountability, for remittance companies to put forth greater transparency, to encourage them to lower their remittance fees so people can send more of their support back to their families,” he said.
Vancouver is the last stop of President Aquino’s 3-day state visit in Canada. He also visited the cities of Ottawa and Toronto. PND (jb) (Vancouver, Canada)
