President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reminded the Filipinos of their shared duty to maintain peace and build a better future as he stressed that the true answer to conflict is not violence.
“The lessons that we learn are that the solution to war is not more war, and that the solution to war is only peace,” Marcos said during the wreath-laying ceremony at the Dambana ng Kagitingan in Mount Samat National Shrine in Pilar, Bataan, commemorating the Araw ng Kagitingan on Wednesday, April 9.
“Peace cannot be a thing by one person—by one country alone—and that we have to bring together all the parties that are involved,” he added.
“We who serve the public continue to find ways to keep that peace, to make that peace more permanent, to maintain that peace so that our people live a good and profitable and productive constructive life,” he added.
Marcos extended the definition of heroism to civilians and everyday acts of courage.
“Not only is valor, not only is bravery, not only courage and sacrifice demonstrated by those who fought in war. They continue to be demonstrated by all the little heroic deeds that our people continued to do when faced with crisis,” he said.
“We continue to believe in the courage of every single Filipino, not only our servicemen, not only those who fought as irregulars, but also our civilians, who made their own sacrifices,” he added.
Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte, in her Araw ng Kagitingan message, highlighted the heroism of Filipinos during World War II, saying their valor is an important reminder of courage and heroism amid cruelty and oppression.
“Ngayong tayo ay nahaharap sa iba’t ibang hamon na sumusubok sa ating pagkakaisa at pagsulong, nawa’y ang kanilang kabayanihan ay magsilbing inspirasyon sa bawat Pilipino,” she said.
“Ipagdiwang natin ang kanilang alaala sa pamamagitan ng pagtatag ng isang bansang kailanma’y hindi na muling daranas ng gayong pagdurusa,” she urged.
Duterte then called on the public to face challenges with love for the country and faith in God.
“Sa ating pagmamahal sa bayan at pananalig sa Diyos, harapin natin ang mga hamon, taglay ang paniniwalang nasa atin ang kapangyarihan para sa pagbabago at mas magandang bukas,” she said. (Argyll Geducos)
