SPEECH OF VICE PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE
128th INDEPENDENCE DAY
June 12, 2026
Rizal Park, Davao City
Mga kababayan, Assalamu Alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Madayaw ug maayong adlaw kaninyong tanan.
Magandang araw sa inyong lahat.
Today, we celebrate, not merely a date, but the courage of a people who fought for freedom and sovereignty. Noong Hunyo 12, 1898, sa Kawit, Cavite, ipinahayag ni Pangulong Emilio Aguinaldo ang pagsilang ng isang malaya at nagsasariling bansang Pilipinas, matapos ang mahigit tatlong daang taon ng pananakop.
But freedom was never a gift. It was paid for and earned through courage. It was paid with Filipino grit and bravery. When the Treaty of Paris transferred our homeland, from one colonial master to another, without the consent of the Filipino people, our forebears refused to be bought and sold like property. Pinili nila ang paglaban kaysa pagsuko, ang dangal kaysa pagpapasakop. This is our inheritance.
Lumaban tayo sa bawat pwersang nagtatangkang magdikta ng ating kapalaran. Thousands gave their lives so that one flag, and one flag alone, would fly over this republic. That is our identity. That is our duty.
We fought for our sovereignty against foreign invaders. But sovereignty is not lost only to those who come from foreign shores. Nawawala rin ito sa tuwing ang serbisyo publiko ay nagiging pribadong negosyo. Kung ang mga opisyal ng gobyerno ay mala-sindikato sa pagnanakaw ng pera ng bayan.
Every peso stolen from the people’s treasury steals a child’s freedom from hunger. It steals a student’s freedom from illiteracy or substandard education. It steals a patient’s freedom to obtain quality healthcare. It steals a worker’s freedom to earn a decent living. Every ghost project is a classroom never built. Every corrupt contract is a road that was never built for farmers to bring their produce to the market.
Ang korapsyon ay hindi lamang pagnanakaw ng pera. It steals opportunity, it steals dignity, and it steals hope. And ultimately, it steals freedom itself.
Rizal, Bonifacio, Luna, and thousands of other Filipino heroes fought so that every Filipino could live with justice, dignity, opportunity, and hope.
Mga kababayan, freedom is never permanent unless it is defended.
Sovereignty survives only when a people refuse to surrender it. Hope survives when citizens refuse to accept bad governance as their destiny, hope survives when citizens act together, have their voices heard, demand what our heroes fought so gallantly for, the right of every Filipino to a dignified human life. Hope survives when our people believe they have a better future.
On this Independence Day, let us resolutely stand up again for truth, for accountability, for freedom, and for sovereignty. Piliin natin ulit ang paglaban kaysa pagsuko, ang dangal kaysa sa pagpapasakop. Piliin natin ang katotohanan. Piliin natin ang pananagutan. At higit sa lahat, piliin natin ang pag-asa.
Mubarog ug makigbisog kita batok sa tanang pwersa nga musulay sa pagbuot sa atong kapalaran, uban sa paglaom nga naggikan sa dili malupig nga gahum sa kasing-kasing sa katawang Pilipino.
Ang Independence Day, mao ang atong adlaw sa paglaom nga ang kagawasan ug soberanya mao gyud ang atong tinuod ug malungtarong kabilin.
Mga kababayan, ang lahat ng ginagawa natin ay para sa Diyos, sa Bayan, at bawat Pamilyang Pilipino.
Shukran
SARA Z. DUTERTE
Vice President of the Philippines
