Assalamulaikum. Magandang araw. Maayong adlaw sa tanan.

Today, I hosted a sit-down meeting with the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the commanders of the AFP’s major services — the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, and the Philippine Navy; together with the chiefs and official representatives of the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fire Management, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and officials from the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

Our objective was to strengthen existing coordination and enhance interagency cooperation on issues concerning our national security and the country’s development.

As the caretaker, may I reiterate the Marcos administration’s direction towards aggressively pursuing programs and projects that will address social inequities and further propel the country’s progress post-pandemic.

But the realization of our national aspirations could be slowed down, held up, or hostaged altogether by forces motivated to derail our progress off the track.

Our policy against criminals and terrorists and those that support and espouse their ideologies of violence should be hardline. We should show no mercy to criminals and terrorists.

The Philippines will only be able to truly recover and rebuild post-pandemic and meaningfully stand with honor and pride as a nation if we successfully address threats to our security.

Let me express my gratitude to the security sector’s professionalism, integrity, commitment, and undying love of our country and the Filipino people.

To our media friends, thank you all for coming. For specific questions, I leave them to OVP Spokesperson Atty. Reynold Munsayac and DepEd Spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa.

Daghang salamat.

Sara Z. Duterte
Vice President of the Philippines
Secretary of the Department of Education
September 5, 2022