Bishop Carlito C. Gaddi,
Officials of the local government of Quezon City,
Officials of the Department of Education,
The Honorable Mayor Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr.,
City Schools Supervisor Dr. Victoria Q. Fuentes,
Punong Guro, Ms. Jenilyn Rose B. Corpuz,
Dedicated teachers and school officials,
Proud and loving parents,
Dear graduates:

Magandang hapon po sa  inyong lahat.

Ikinagagalak ko po kayong makapiling ngayong hapon sa isang mahalagang pagtitipon – ang pagsasama ng kamag-anakan upang ipagdiwang ang pagtatapos ng high school ng 668 estudyante ng New Era High School.

May I convey the heartfelt congratulations of the President and her entire Cabinet to all the graduates and their proud parents who share this happy occasion.  Our congratulations also to the teachers and officials of this
school for their commitment to excellence and hard work in educating our youth.

The diploma you receive today brings you one step closer to your life's ambition.  It is a fitting reward for the sacrifices of your parents who want nothing more than for you to have a bright future.

Your graduation manifests our people's yearning for education.  For most of the poor, education is the means to liberate themselves from the clutches of poverty.  Education is a tested means for social and economic mobility.

The government, your government is dedicated to winning the war against poverty.  We have vowed to put food on every table, shelter over every family, health and a sound education for every citizen.

In the past three years, in foreign policy and elsewhere, we had made unprecedented gains towards bringing about change, change that truly benefits the Filipino.

Twice during her term, the President held the position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. On July 30, 2002 the President appointed a member of the political opposition as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.  On December 22, 2003, the President appointed a woman as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.  These were historic, unprecedented and bold decisions that broke tradition.

I am honored to be the first woman Secretary of Foreign Affairs – joining 9 other highly trained professional and career women.

Let me cite to you some of the direct results of the President’s foreign policy activities that have made our people safer both in our country and abroad, and which helped ensure a firm and fair place for us in the global
economy.

                    1. She succeeded in convincing our neighbors to enter into cooperation agreements to fight terrorism.

                    2. She brought foreign policy to our war against crime.  We increased our cooperation with other countries, which resulted in stunning victories, like the simultaneous raids against drug lords in Bulacan and in Fujian province and Wuhan province in China.

                    3. She fought for fair trade and mobilized other countries in ensuring that global trade benefits all countries and not just a select few.   The President made us fully engaged in protecting the global environment.

                    4. She made diplomacy work in bringing us closer to peace.  Today, with the help of our international partners, we are talking peace with the communist rebels and Muslim secessionists.

                    5. She has instructed me to work for the welfare of our 8 million migrant workers, particularly in the advocacy for anti-trafficking and anti-violence.

You have come to this exciting point in your lives because of the determination, sacrifices and guidance of genuine leaders -- your parents and your teachers.  You have come this far to aiming at a better future.

Our President shares your victory.  She also wants to challenge you.  She wants you to pursue higher learning with a passion and aim to be the best that you can be.

Knowledge will enable you to reach new heights.  Education is solution to poverty.

That is why we have opened more educational opportunities for our youth, especially the poor and the less privileged.

We have launched the Student Assistance Fund for Education for a Strong Republic (SAFE 4 SR) for 3rd year, 4th year and graduating college students.

We have already assured that this year’s budget will continue to give the biggest funding support to education. This includes the bulk of DepEd’s proposed P4 billion increase for more teachers, classrooms and operating funds for the schools.

We are building schools in unserved barangays and introduced a distance-learning program to far-flung ones.  We are expanding our textbook program, which now gives all learning materials in major subjects in grade school and the first two years of high school.

We have provided more time for the teaching of Science, Match and English.  We are augmenting this with private sector-supported programs to provide computers to public schools.

To all the parents, school officials and students gathered here today, the President likes you to know that she cares for our country's young minds.  She places the utmost priority on education because it was because of her own education that she got this far.  Education is also what made her father, former President Diosdado Macapagal, rise from poverty to the highest post in the land.

That's another challenge for you.  Nothing is impossible if you want it and you work very hard to get it.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the valedictorian, Mary Rose Mania and invite her to study hard and perhaps someday join the Philippine foreign service.  As out national hero, Jose Rizal once said, “The youth is the hope of our motherland.”  I wish you all well.

Maraming Salamat Po.