(Acknowledgments)
It is my greatest pleasure to join our dear friends from the Chinese-Filipino business community today, and I thank you all for inviting me once again to keynote your biennial convention. Since our last gathering, the days have passed quickly and in that time, the country has had to face several unique challenges.
Only days ago, we all welcomed the year of the wooden horse with celebration and joy. I myself was born in the year of the horse. Some would say I typify the personality of my Chinese zodiac sign. I learned to work hard at an early age. I relish the challenges that my profession brings. I can be guilty, in some cases, of impatience. And even in my political career, I have more than once been called the Dark Horse.
All humor aside, the horse is quick to gain independence. A foal can stand up less than 10 minutes after birth and begins to walk almost immediately after that. As the New Year goes into full swing, the horse reminds us of all the labors that lie ahead for the entire country.
The last months of 2013 are still fresh in our minds. The strongest typhoon in recorded history swept through our country with a fury unknown to man. It claimed thousands of lives and in its aftermath, changed millions more.
Typhoon Yolanda, a Category 5 storm, made landfall on the morning of November 8 and devastated wide swaths of land across 36 of our provinces. Around 13.5 million of our kababayans– over 10% of our country’s population – have been affected by this epic calamity; 4.3 million have been displaced; and the death toll, currently at 6,000, has not reached its final count.
My friends,
Certainly, Yolanda inflicted grave economic damage on the country. But behind the raw figures and statistics, lie the faces of real people, our people. And while we continue to push the limits of time, space and service in order to bring them aid and help them rebuild homes and lives, this challenge clearly exceeds what a government working alone can do.
We face a task that calls upon the entire Filipino nation – those living here or abroad, those who have committed themselves to public service and equally important, those who give life to the private sector – to bring their powers to bear on the communities that were uprooted so suddenly. All of us have something to contribute to this effort and the current state of Leyte and Samar remind us that nothing less than the best efforts are needed.
Only last month, His Majesty the King of Sweden, came to the Philippines and included a visit to Tacloban in his official schedule as he wished to see for himself the extent of Yolanda’s damage. I had the privilege of accompanying him during that trip and while the winds and the floods subsided months ago, what we saw remained most heart-wrenching.
vNo words can describe what Samar and Leyte continue to struggle with. Even the footage and the pictures seen on media are but a modest snapshot of the losses suffered. But for all the devastation that remained plain to see, the unbroken spirit of the Taclobanons shone brighter than the sun.
Amid the ruins and the debris, the King saw signs proudly proclaiming, “Tacloban will rise again” and “Bangon Tacloban.” Despite every cause to give up, the people of Tacloban are the first participants in their own road to recovery. They proved the scholar right when he wrote, “A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.” We must now rise together to follow their example, and it is my great honor to rise with them and you, my dear friends, so that they can once again hold the reins of their lives.
In the next two years, we aim to build 60,000 houses for families in Samar and Leyte, and we have partnered with the private sector to fast-track the construction of houses.
The National Housing Authority (NHA), one of the agencies under the HUDCC, is now in the process of rebuilding sustainable communities in resettlement areas for the families affected by Typhoon Yolanda. These are permanent concrete structures that will provide real shelter against any future calamities.
Tanauan, Leyte is one of these sites and through a partnership between the NHA and Gawad Kalinga, our kababayans there will soon have homes within Prime Town Housing Projects Phases 1 and 2.The NHA and GK will construct 822 housing units in barangays Pago and Maribi. These units will conform to the design parameters prescribed by the National Building Code, the Design for Socialized and Economic Housing, and other related laws to make sure that these are decent, safe, and disaster resilient.
This permanent housing program is only the first of several projects that will be undertaken in Tanauan that will benefit the 6,670 families who were rendered homeless by Yolanda.
In addition to the 60,000 housing units in Samar and Leyte, NHA is also tasked to construct 2,000 houses in northern Negros Occidental. A total of 1,500 homes will be built in Cadiz City, which was the hardest hit area in the province. The remaining 500 houses will be constructed in Sagay City and Manapla.
As you come together in this biennial convention, I humbly ask that you take this opportunity to join hands with us and all sectors to hasten the process of rehabilitation. Your key endeavors have always sought to make the country a better and more dignified place. Stand by us in this golden chance to rebuild the nation and heal the wounds that have brought about division.
The late statesman and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela often reminded the world that the time is always right to do right. Clearly, there is no better time for the members of CFBC to take these words and give them life.
My friends,
The road ahead of us is anything but easy. The challenges we face will undoubtedly be joined by other concerns of national or global scope. But just as the horse can hurdle any obstacle before it, so too can we, as one nation prevail against whatever tests that lie ahead.
I wish you all a successful convention and a prosperous year ahead.
Thank you very much and good afternoon.