To our honored guests, the representatives of the urban poor, the farmers, the fisherfolk; our

government workers; the leaders of our youth and student organizations; my fellow Filipinos, a
pleasant afternoon to all of you.

Oppression has made its lasting mark in Philippine history, our history. But today, we remember
the victory of our struggle against it. Our struggle for freedom has become an essential part of
who we are as a nation. We Filipinos have experienced much suffering. But one thing is for
sure, when we fall down, we get back up and fight against abuse. We must remember that. We
have fought tooth and nail for our independence. That fight is what we celebrate today, 120
years since the Philippine flag was waved on a balcony in Kawit, Cavite, the moment the
Republic of the Philippines was born.

Now let’s take a look at our history. We memorize the names, the dates, the events, that led to
the revolution and our freedom. But beyond knowing those facts, we must have a deeper
understanding of our history. We must learn from the actions of our heroes, who united the
Filipino people in the fight against systematic oppression. We have Rizal and Mabini, who
enlightened the people of their rights and justified the struggle for freedom. We have Bonifacio
and the Katipunan, the leaders of the people willing to shed blood for our beloved nation.
Without coordination and unity, there is no revolution. Without revolution, there is no freedom.

As we celebrate the Philippine Independence Day each year, we are presented with
opportunities to reflect on what we have done with the independence our ancestors have
sacrificed their lives for.

Now, we must confront the reality of how the Philippines has become characterized by the
people’s divisiveness instead of progress. Is this how we repay the sacrifice of our heroes? Our
divisiveness fosters oppression and corruption because we treat our fellow Filipinos as different
from us. We have become self-centered and we have lost empathy for others, thus allowing
abuse to grow. The lack of empathy and unity enables us to take advantage of those who
cannot fight back. That is oppression, the exact thing our historical struggle for independence
has strongly fought against.

We must realize that we become oppressors when we judge and treat each other unfairly due to
differences in social class, educational background, gender, or sexuality. We fail to look for
common grounds with each other, willfully misunderstanding each other by ignoring our
similarities.

How can we be united if we allow our differences to become barriers to our connections with our
fellow Filipinos?

We call ourselves a republic, and we say that we have established this nation called the
Philippines, inhabited by Filipino people. But what is the point of calling ourselves the Filipino
people if we remain divided?

How can we be truly independent if we are not united?

To fully appreciate and preserve our national independence, we must have a concrete national
identity grounded on our history, culture, and nature as Filipinos. This will not only cement our
distinction from other nations. More importantly, a clear identity will unite us Filipinos in the road
towards progress.

We Filipinos love our country, we want what is best for the Philippines and we are proud to be
Pinoy. But one thing we must realize is that when we harm our fellow countrymen, we harm the
Philippines too because the people make up the nation. We must learn to respect and love our
fellow Filipinos as much as we love our motherland.

There is a uniquely Filipino concept that we are all familiar with but fail to emulate these days. It
is an essential part of what it means to be Filipino - unity in the spirit of bayanihan. Bayanihan
perfectly sums up the Filipino idea of finding strength in unity.

And so today, I call on you, my fellow Filipinos, to unite in the ever-present battle against
oppression. We must protect our independence by staying strong together, hand-in-hand, as we
march towards progress and freedom.

Long live our independence! Long live the Philippines!