BAGUIO CITY – The lawmaker from the lone district of Baguio City delivered his privilege speech last Monday, February 20, 2017, giving emphasis on the love of country. Rep. Mark Go primarily defines love of country as the “sanctuary of the voice of God and the voice of the people, and that love is a mandate of both. For what is public service, then, but to serve God and to serve people.”
Addressing his colleagues in the lower chamber, he said that as leaders they must take the lead in initiating a cultural revolution of taking pride in our country. “We are at the best position since our reach is both local and national. Our people need us. Our people need good people to follow – and we set ourselves as examples. This is not a new idea, everyone knows, but what we need to do is to increase the degree of patriotic love for each Filipino,” Go said.
“At the outset, we love our country not because she is great. We love her because she is simply ours. Second, we must make her great because we love her,” Go further explained. “We are a pool of about 292 best minds in the country. More than the amount of legislation we pursue for regulation and order of our people, we need to step up and converge our efforts to campaign for more love of our country. It’s time to wake up. It’s time to reflect on our great possibility. And it all starts now.” Go added.
Go further states that more than 26 million Filipinos are poor, and nearly 12 million are in extreme poverty. That many are still outside the streets looking for jobs, many are crying for justice and many fail in life. Go states that leaders of our country should think of making a change and look for possibilities that we as a people can reach.
Rep. Go ended his speech narrating a story of the boy who was reunited with the stranger who saved his life in a fire incident. He associates the story of what love is and what service is all about. “Like the stranger, we are the only people our country will recognize as the rightful claimants of her. The custody of our country is in our hands who serve her. Her life is in our hands. She is ours. The Philippines is for Filipinos.” Go said.
“Love is a sacrifice, and we are a wounded lover for our country. Our hands may be scarred but they are the only hands that will bring our country back again to life,” Go ended.
By Press Release