Here’s the full text of Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon’s New Year’s Message. This coming year 2009 (year of the Ox), I also hope that each and every one of us can be the change or agent of change that our country (badly) needs. It really all comes from within!
Sen. Gordon’s year 2009 message: Let us be the change our country needs.
I extend my warmest greetings to my kababayans here and abroad as you, along with the rest of humanity, eagerly await the dawn of New Year 2009!
Each New Year is a symbol of hope and a herald for new beginnings. The year 2009 stretches across us like a horizon, filled with opportunities to be explored and challenges to be overcome. As we celebrate another milestone in our history, let us not forget the lessons we have learned from the past and continue to work together for the development of our country.
The New Year brings us closer to a time when we Filipinos will be called upon to direct our nation’s course through the 2010 national elections. Let us use the coming year to prepare and chart a course that will lead to the renewal of our country’s values. Let us chart a course for Bagumbayan where we will have a community of people who think, speak, and act for the common good; where everyone has asenso and kaginhawaan; and where Filipinos will find their future, not in foreign shores, but in their very own Filipinas!
The challenge for us now is to make Bagumbayan a reality. Let us all be volunteers in our quest to uplift the lives of our countrymen and be the catalyst for the implementation of much-needed national reforms. Let us be the change that this country needs!
Once again, I would like to wish everyone a prosperous and safe New Year! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang mamamayang Pilipino!
I learned from Senator Richard Gordon today that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is set to revive the investigations into the brutal murder of Mindanaoan journalist Marlene Esperat. Esperat, who exposed an alleged illegal procurement of P432 Million worth of fertilizers, was slain in her own home in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao by an assassin who later on reportedly confessed that he was hired by two officials in the Department of Agriculture – Central Mindanao. What really dismayed me was the fact that she was even gunned down in front of her own children.
“This time we will investigate why a resident Ombudsman in the Agriculture Department in Mindanao was killed because she wanted to expose an anomaly. So far, the case has made some progress in courts but the masterminds have never been revealed,” Senator Gordon said.
“The anomaly allegedly involves as much as 460 million pesos involved, it was done by certain personalities, and the person who wanted to expose it was killed. This is what badly needs to be investigated,” he added.
Hopefully, with these investigations, the public will really know who’s behind the Esperat slay.
In 2003, Esperat filed a graft complaint against Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, former Agriculture Secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo Jr., and other officials of the Department of Agriculture.
What can you say about the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s plan to revive investigations on the Esperat case?
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Is Mindanao really RP’s “Wild West”?
January 19, 2009
Advocacy, Commentary, Government, Mindanao, Mindanaoan Update, Opinion
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This got me thinking when I received a press release from the Office of Sen. Richard Gordon recently. The PR read: “Turn around Mindanao’s image as RP’s ‘Wild West’ – Gordon” The senator said that Mindanao has “gained a negative reputation in the international media as the country’s “Wild, Wild West” due to the continued spate of kidnappings, sporadic bombings, and the poor peace and order situation.” Is our beloved island Mindanao really the Philippines’ version of the so-called “Wild West”?
In a meeting with the Regional Development Council of Region 12 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Gordon challenged Mindanao executives to turn around Mindanao’s negative image from being the “Wild West of the Philippines ” into a premier tourist destination with its unique history and culture.
Gordon also emphasized that “there is no governance in area. Schools are decrepit; roads are bad; farm-to-market roads are non-existent and there is no focus on helping them solving their problem, or empowering them so they can conquer their own selves.”
Gordon, chairman of the Senate tourism committee, also stressed that the people of Mindanao should not wait for the national government to take the initial steps towards lasting peace and development of Mindanao.
“You should define what Mindanao is and assert yourselves as a people. Manila is never going to solve it for us. It is never going to be a solution. Mindanao should be self-sufficient,” he said.
The senator also said that Mindanaoans should encourage more tourists to visit Mindanao instead of other places.
What are your thoughts on this?