politicians-from-manila

"The National Museum of Philippines building and its surrounding areas match our requirements for President-elect Marcos’ inauguration. Preparations are already in full swing to ensure that it will be ready by then."

"Cleanliness starts in the toilet."

"The Japanese, the Chinese and other Asian countries speak their dialect (when dealing with other countries) -- I don't see why we Filipinos cannot speak our own dialect."

"“They threw at me not just the kitchen sink but also the toilet bowl.""

"I consider myself lucky that Emil Jurado taught me English for only one semester. I'm afraid to think of what my English would now be if he had taught me any longer. This is what I get for having been attentive during his class."

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I give myself 70 percent."

"The Trustees of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, representing the 1,425 CEAP member-schools, colleges, and universities, support the faculty of the Ateneo de Manila University in their call against the attempt of Ferdinand Marcos Jr to canonize the harrowing horrors of martial rule."

""In response to Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos, Jr.'s call that teachers and students of history should make a judgment about the Marcos administration, we, the undersigned members of the Ateneo de Manila community, vehemently oppose and condemn the ongoing willful distortion of our history. We deplore the shameless refusal to acknowledge the crimes of the Martial Law regime. We reject the revision of history, disturbing vision of the future, and shallow call for "unity" being presented by Marcos Jr. and like-minded candidates in the 2016 elections."

""Great danger now lurks behind a deceptive nostalgia for a past that never really existed—that the Marcos years were a period of peace and prosperity. This is patently Marcos myth and deception. Under martial law, the country was plunged into a climate of repression and plunder and then into a social crisis that exploded in the 1980s."

""Ipaubaya natin ang kasaysayan sa mga propesor, sa mga nag-aaral tungkol sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Kami hindi namin trabaho yun. Ang trabaho namin ay tingnan kung ano ba ang pangangailangan ng taong bayan ngayon." (Let us leave history to the professors, to those who study the history of the Philippines. It is not our job. Our job is to look at what the people need at present.)"

"At what point do you say, ‘Enough is enough’? Well, the world has to say it — remember that the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War II."

"But I also know that Jesse would not allow the transformation and righting of society to end with him. Jesse and I were only given opportunities to serve the country because of all of you. We cannot have just one face for transformation and change. We should not have to wait another hundred years before the next good citizen is born, before the next good Filipino rises to the occasion."

"We also know that excellent public servants do not just transform a society; they inspire. Millions of Filipinos grieved when Jesse Robredo passed. For almost two decades, he served and led Naga with skill, compassion, and humility. These principles of his are the exact reasons we borrowed him from Congresswoman Leni and their three children, and from the Nagueños, so that he could become part of our Cabinet. This is why one of the hardest things I ever had to do as President was to deliver the news to Leni and their daughters, after the tragedy."

"If no one is corrupt, no one will be poor."

"Apart from grieving, I could not avoid blaming myself for what happened to Jesse. Maybe if I had not asked him to join my Cabinet, he would still be alive today. Maybe if he had remained in Naga, he would still be with us. Maybe there would still be a Jesse Robredo in public service today."

"Then, President Cory passed away, and Senator Noynoy spoke at her funeral. That is when we truly saw him."

"I strongly challenge the sincerity and intent of the MILF: identify and surrender your men before the bar of justice. This is part of your commitment to the peace agreement. Now if you say they are not from your ranks but from the other armed groups, you are still duty-bound to identify and surrender these people who committed the crime."

"The agreement signed by the GRP and the MILF did NOT CHANGE our laws. Terrorists are still terrorists. Law enforcement operations are still law enforcement operations. It is still illegal to shoot a policeman especially if he is unarmed. Nothing has changed, in so far as our laws are concerned. On Mr. Iqbal's comments, I think it is part of their hard ball. They have been calling the shots from day one and our negotiators probably have been infected by Stockholm Syndrome taking the side of the MILF, instead of our side. From my point of view, both the OPAPP and the GRP and the MILF should WIN THE TRUST OF THE PEOPLE first before winning the trust of each other. If they do not have the trust of the majority of Filipinos, any agreement they sign will simply be unacceptable."

"The President put the interest of the PNP as an organization first before his personal friendship and preferences. I commend him for that. However, he still did not name a permanent PNP Chief in order to provide STABILITY and DIRECTION in the PNP, at this difficult time. I urge him to appoint at the soonest. Further, I would have wanted him TO SEND A CLEARER AND TOUGHER MESSAGE to the MILF and to have given DEFINITE instructions to the OPAPP, the GRP panel, and the DOJ insofar as ensuring that justice is exacted from those who brutally and mercilessly massacred the 44 SAF members."

"Newly-appointed COMELEC chair Atty. Andres Bautista is capable and should be given all the help he needs. Time is of the essence and he has to act fast in order to perform the mandate of the COMELEC in 2016 for clean, honest, and automated elections."

"I laud the Supreme Court for its decision to allow Sen. Grace Poe to run for president in the May 9 national elections. The Supreme Court once again sided with the rule of law in upholding the petition of Sen. Grace to reverse the partisan, biased and unfounded decision of the Commission on Elections disqualifying her from the presidential race. The decision of the Supreme Court is not only a victory for Sen. Grace but a victory for other foundlings who aspire to seek for higher office in order to serve the country. This is a great day for the Filipino people."

"I am hoping that President Aquino will be able to sign the Senate Bill 2834 or PAGASA Modernization Bill into law within the year to give long-overdue upgrades to the weather bureau’s equipment, staff pay, research capabilities and communication reach. The bill also aims to arrest the brain-drain problem in the agency by increasing the basic pay, allowances and other benefits of its workers."

"Postponing the elections is not possible. Under the Constitution and even under our laws, elections cannot and should not be postponed. Comelec has no power to do that. Their only mandate is to supervise elections in our country every three years. And precisely because elections happen only every three years, there is no reason for the Comelec not to do it effectively."

"On the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2016, I call on all Filipino men, women and the LGBT community to be united as one powerful force in promoting and protecting the Filipino women’s physical and emotional health and overall well-being. As one collective group, we must all work to ensure that discrimination and violence against Filipino women, and all women all over the world, do not happen in any instance. Everyday, discrimination and violence against women in so many forms—visible and invisible, physical and verbal—take place. These acts have deep and lasting effects on the women’s health and well-being. On this day, let us also renew our resolve and commitment to uphold, advance and protect our achievements in making the Philippine society more sensitive to the issues affecting the lives of Filipino women. More work needs to be done to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, factors seen by experts as associated with discrimination and violence. Let us do everything within our power and might to stop all forms of discrimination and violence against women, that their rights are protected and upheld, and that they optimally enjoy and achieve the possible maximum standard of physical and emotion health."

"I am deeply saddened and shocked by the sudden demise of Ambassador Roy Seneres. He is a big loss to the OFWs and their families, whose causes and concerns he had fought for. Our deepest condolences to his family. I appeal to our people to pray for the eternal repose of Ambassador Seneres, as well as for strength for his loved ones during this difficult time."

"It is saddening because our SSS pensioners have waited long enough for this measure. There is no better time than now to have the SSS pension hike bill enacted into law, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate and members of the House of Representatives to do the right thing and vote to override the President’s ill-advised veto of this bill. We need to muster the two-thirds majority vote to override the veto. It may be difficult but we will try for the sake of our SSS pensioners."

"I thank the Supreme Court magistrates for affirming the TRO. This confirms that Senator Grace Poe remains a candidate for president and whose name stays on the official ballot, notwithstanding the orchestrated efforts to disqualify her. We hope that the high court will also uphold the laws and long established jurisprudence when it decides on the other petitions in connection with the candidacy of Senator Grace."

"The Solicitor General, the statutorily appointed lawyer of the Philippine government, and 10 other solicitors are of the firm belief that Senator Grace Poe is a natural-born Filipino. This is vindication for the majority of the SET, who were criticized by some sectors for deciding supposedly based on political and emotional considerations. No less than the OSG recognizes that the Constitution and its framers never wanted to discriminate against foundlings and that foundlings were always meant to be natural-born Filipinos—which is what Senator Grace has been saying all along."

"You know us, Filipinos, we prefer to meet people personally before we pass judgment on them."

"I am Chiz Escudero, a Filipino, a son, a husband, father, and a Bicolano public servant. With the grace of God and the Blessed Mother, I humbly offer myself to the mission of serving you as your Vice President...as the Vice President of our country."

"There can be no too many investigations into the Mamasapano carnage if the end goal is to learn the truth. The entire nation is digging for answers in the dark. Only those with reason to fear justice and truth, will find facing the investigations and having the probes unsettling. Any probe panel which is there to do the intended job is always welcome. We must find balance in seeking for justice and learning the truth. We are all players and partners in building and strengthening the peace and in upholding justice."

"I respect the decision of the Court as everyone else should, whether they agree with or not. Respect for the rule of law demands nothing less. I don't think the statements of President (Rodrigo) Duterte has anything to do with it as I believe in the independence of the Court. I cannot comment on the prosecution given that I am not too learned about the day to day arguments both sides made before the Court."

"Fascinated in the sense that it’s advanced human rights; it’s advanced in the sense that everything in your license, everything in your birth certificate can now be determined by the person himself. Nothing to be determined by the accident of birth. That is advanced citizenship, and I am all for it."

"Though the destinations differ, the roads leading there would look the same, if road infrastructures are standardized. Senator Chiz Escudero's Senate Bill 2886 seeks to regulate and standardize all road infrastructures, including street signs and sidewalks, from the poorest barangays to the richest enclaves. The bill will not only improve aesthetics in all areas, it will also promote road safety in a country known as having one of the worst road conditions in the world."

"Senator Joker Arroyo will always be known as among the pioneers and champion of human rights advocacy and a freedom fighter. He defended and handled human rights cases. Together with the freedom-loving Filipinos, we express the gratitude of the Filipino nation for his sacrifices and those of his family members offered to make a better Philippines. We cannot repay his sincerity, courage and fortitude and strength amid challenges he had encountered while serving the parliament of the streets and the halls of Congress and Senate."

"The government has to be proactive and prepare for the worst-case scenario. Our farmers have to be given all kinds of assistance to make up for the projected crop losses because of the drying up of farmlands. Our farmers are going to need all the help they can get in the coming months, and national agencies should be ready to work with local governments to pull our farmers through this difficult season."

"I thank and commend the Supreme Court for issuing the TRO and for upholding justice, truth and the fact that Senator Grace Poe is a candidate for President!"

"This was not the first time Lito David backtracked on his issues against Senator Grace (Poe). Earlier, he also agreed to drop the residency issue in the petition he had filed against her due to a rule requiring the filing of disqualification case based on residency within 10 days from proclamation of the candidate. To say that a foundling like Senator Grace cannot be considered a citizen of the Philippines is a violation of an individual’s basic and alienable human right to bear a nationality from birth. The petition was given due course and Sen. Grace already faced him at the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET). I don’t understand why he called for a press conference against Sen. Grace, unless his motives are purely political. If indeed political, who is behind David? Why is he engaging Sen. Grace in a political discourse outside the SET?"

"Today, we celebrate with our Filipino Muslim brothers and sisters the end of their month-long fast."

"Our roads have become safety hazards in themselves. The government should step up in securing the well-being of motorists and the riding public by upgrading and regulating the country’s road infrastructures, which have been neglected for so long."

"There is a need to put in place regulations that will promote a uniform and consistent standard for the design and installation of road signs, waiting sheds, streetlights, speed bumps and other road infrastructure not only to promote safety, but also to advance aesthetics throughout the country’s thoroughfares."

"These legal disputes hinder the adequate education of our youth. It has negative impacts on the overall development of the nation in tapping and harnessing the talents of the Filipino youth, if schools, considered as their second abode, is constantly threatened with legal disputes and uncertainties. We have seen and heard cases that upon the death of the donors, heirs claim ownership of the land through revocation of the original donation. These result to endless court litigations. The passage of this bill will pave the way for simplifying the process of land titling registration of almost 90 percent of school sites in favor of the DepEd."

"I believe that it behooves me to step down at this juncture to ensure that deliberations on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) — considered the single most important piece of legislation passed by Congress each year — are untainted by suspicions or perceptions of partisan politics. It is, Mr. President, what propriety requires; it is, I believe, what our people expect from us all: delicadeza."

"The NTC should start cracking the whip and fix the system immediately. It cannot be business as usual anymore. Let’s do away with the mentality of just accepting the present situation and start doing something about it. he problem is that government agencies that are supposed to monitor these telcos and help consumers don’t seem to feel the urgency of the situation."

"We need to participate in the very process of electing into office people we believe are deserving. And this long process – sometimes viewed as tedious – starts with having yourself registered properly."

"It’s sad to say but agriculture remains to be a poor man’s sector. Despite being a huge asset to national development, agriculture has been the most neglected and least understood sector of the nation’s economy."

"It’s a step backwards after having fully automated elections previously. Returning to manual elections is a cause for serious concern due to its dangerous implications on the country’s electoral process."

"The current situation in the country is, sad to say, unacceptable. The state of internet speed is pathetic, and unless we remedy this situation, our IT sector is likely to suffer in the long term."

"Black propaganda and negative politics don't and won't work here/elsewhere simply because of one thing - it is based on a lie."

"As much as possible, the government should purchase brand new military hardware if it really wants to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which is widely regarded as one of the weakest military forces in Southeast Asia. If we are going to pour in billions of pesos to improve the AFP, we might as well give our soldiers the best modern and sophisticated equipment we can get."