Ito ang kahalagahan ng ating demokrasya. Ito ang pundasyon ng ating pagkakaisa. Nangampanya tayo para sa pagbabago. Dahil dito taas-noo muli ang Pilipino. Tayong lahat ay kabilang sa isang bansa kung saan maaari nang mangarap muli.
- Inaugural Address, President Benigno Aquino III
I woke up to the tune of a new President today. Noynoy Aquino took to the stands and faced the nation and the world, and today marks the beginning of his Presidency. Today marks the journey we take with him, with his guidance and leadership, to a new chapter in our history. He stands before us as our leader, as our President, and most of all, at least for six years, our beacon of hope; for he himself took that mantle up for himself. A man with a clear mandate, a man backed by the will of the people; a man who now stands as the President of the Philippines.
Like President Aquino, I hope. I wouldn’t hold my head high to walk with pride, but to keep it low enough to see the road ahead, and where I am on this road. Surrounded by the yellow glow of hope, the road ahead is rife with challenges and problems that hope alone cannot resolve, that dreams alone cannot make better, and legacies alone cannot address. That hope, without action, is a dangerous thing.
As Noynoy Aquino takes up the mantle of the Presidency, so we should take up the mantle of citizenship.
