ILOILO CITY — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday lauded Filipino librarians for their hard work, saying they always have a friend in the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“Our librarians in the Philippines will always have a friend in the Office of the Vice President because I believe in your contribution to our education, not just to our learners but even to our adults. Lahat ng residents at lahat ng ating mga kababayan, they deserve libraries everywhere they go and every place they visit,” Duterte said during the Annual National Congress 2022 Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. (PLAI) at the Iloilo Convention Center here.

Duterte, who is also the Secretary of Education, acknowledged the role of librarians in shaping the mind of learners and allowing them to make informed choices and right decisions.

She added that many people learned to love reading because there are librarians who “understood our specific information needs and ushered us into finding the books that we needed.”

“This experience complements the lessons they get from their basic education, enabling them to be well informed, and in the end, allowing them to make informed choices and right decisions,” Duterte said.

“We do not want our society’s enemies to win over decent, honest, hard-working citizens — our learners, our children. We cannot let them take away our country’s hope and bright future,” she added.

The Vice President also shared her experience about establishing the Davao City Library and Information Center (DCLIC) when she was still mayor of Davao City.

The DCLIC bagged three national and one international Best Library awards.

She said the Davao City government prioritized the building of the 5-storey library for Filipinos to have something to be proud of and be considered the “best library in the Philippines right now.”

“We hope that one day, kapag napadaan po kayo sa Davao City o sa mga kapitbahay na mga lugar namin sa Mindanao, ay bumisita po kayo sa Davao City Library para po kapag manalo tayo in international awards ay magiging proud po tayo as Filipinos that this library in Mindanao, in Davao City, won an international award because it deserves the award,” Duterte said.

She also lauded Iloilo City’s Public Library and the city itself for being one of the top performing and most awarded cities in the Philippines.

Duterte ended her message praising the launching of mobile libraries from different organizations and local government units such as the Lakbay Alalay in Tarlac, the Library Van Caravan in Ilocos Norte, and the mobile libraries of Davao City, Isabela City in Basilan, and Lanao del Norte.

“May our librarians be up to the task of supplementing school-based interventions by getting out of their comfort zones to help a new generation of Filipinos learn to love reading,” Duterte said.

OVP MEDIA