GRACE POE
18th Congress
(Member, 20 August 2019 - 30 June 2022)
18th Congress
(Member, 20 August 2019 - 30 June 2022)
SEP
11
2019
Seconding speech for GREGORIO B. HONASAN II for the confirmation of his ad interim appointment as Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology
Plenary Session No. 3, First Regular Session
Mr. President, Secretary Honasan played a key role in the People Power Revolution and led a group of progressive soldiers dreaming of systemic improvements back then. It is, but certain, that such a kind of leadership, passion and determination will surely benefit a relatively young department which is the DICT.
More importantly, Secretary Honasan is very familiar with the importance of the DICT’s role in safeguarding national interest and security as such matters have always been at the forefront of a number of senate hearings while he was still a senator.
Also, on a personal note, he was quite dedicated when he supported my father in 2004. He was very humble and stood by him. Actually, even during those times when there were mobs around my father, he acted – he was one of those who protected him. So, I would like to thank, I never thank him for this, but thank you, Secretary Honasan.
Let the government, DICT in particular, continue to benefit from the character, competence, and hard work of our renowned statesman, like Secretary Honasan.
All told, I hereby support and likewise urge our colleagues to support the confirmation of Sec. “Gringo” Gregorio Honasan II at the DICT.
DEC
17
2019
Seconding speech for WILLIAM D. DAR for the confirmation of his ad interim appointment as Secretary, Department of Agriculture
Plenary Session No. 8, First Regular Session
Magandang hapon sa inyong lahat, Mr. President, fellow senators, friends from the other House.
The nominee is a farmer by birth, by education, by training, by profession and by vocation.
He grew up as a free-range kid in a two-hectare farm in Ilocos. He was born not with a silver spoon in his mouth but with a gardening shovel in his hand.
His first OJT did not come after college, but before he went to school. Growing up, the words in "Bahay Kubo" for him were not lyrics to be sung but plants to be tended.
His resume is packed tight with degree, awards, and publications all related to agriculture.
He got his PhD in agriculture, taught agriculture in college, worked in agricultural research, became a Secretary of Agriculture 20 years ago…and even met the love of his life in agricultural school!
Like many Pinoy breadwinners, he even became an OFW, as an Overseas Farming Worker, in India, in the most challenging of all farm disciplines in this age of climate change, of how to coax crops to yield more with less water.
Karamihan po ng ating mga OFWs go to the desert to hunt for oil, but the nominee went there to plant crops.
But having come from Ilocos -- where the soil is rocky but the farmers are resourceful -- he found his job a breeze that he was elected to three five-year terms as Director General of the prestigious International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics. And this is what our country needs today; a Secretary of Agriculture who will see fields of green in barren lands; see bountiful harvest in lean croppings; who can envision farmers with a bright future instead of a demoralized multitude weighed down by poverty.
Mr. President, leading the DA is the toughest job in the Cabinet, if not in the land today.
Summed up in one sentence, his job description is to ensure that every Filipino will have their 3 square meals a day, which to many millennials is actually five, to include the milk tea meriendas in the afternoon, and home-delivered midnight snacks.
It is guaranteeing that every Pinoy must have his 110 kilos of rice a year, 9 kilos of chicken, 11 kilos of vegetables, 9 kilos of pork, and 5 kilos of fish, preferably locally-grown and not spiced with the ASF virus or galunggong marinated formalin.
He has to do this against this challenging landscape:
· where a third of farmers and fisherfolk poor are aging;
· in a land-starved, disaster-swept archipelago;
· and in a culture where there is an eternal clash between poor rice eaters wanting to buy their rice cheap and poor rice growers wanting to sell their rice high.
But I know that this tough-as-a-saluyot promdi from Ilocos is the right man for the job. But he can only do his, if we do ours, if we support, through right policies and adequate funding, the sector that feeds the nation and fuels its growth.
Mga kaibigan: Ikinagagalak kong i-sponsor at bumoto para sa pagpapatibay ng pagkahirang kay William Dar, dakilang anak ng Ilocos, Benguet, Caloocan, Pangasinan bilang ating Kalihim ng Pagsasaka.
FEB
12
2020
Seconding speech for LUZVIMINDA ALMAZAN CAMACHO for the confirmation of her ad interim appointment to the rank of Commodore, Philippine Navy
Plenary Session No. 9, First Regular Session
Magandang hapon po.
For the first time in the history of the Navy and we certainly hope that this instance won’t be the last, it has opened its doors to its first female Commodore. But this title we are bestowing upon her today pales in comparison with the rest of Camacho’s achievements including her being the first woman to command a navy ship and the first female commander of the Philippine peacekeepers deployed to the United Nations.
Clearly, Commodore Camacho has paved the way in her field before we were even privileged to meet her. Hers is a story of pure grit. Ang kanyang k’wento ay hindi nalalayo sa karamihan ng mga babaeng tahimik ngunit masigasig na nagtratrabaho upang umangat sa kani-kanilang larangan. Ang kanyang tagumpay ay tagumpay nating lahat.
More than the grant of this title, this appointment signifies bigger and better things to come for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Putting the right leaders at its helm is only the start of better capacitating our Navy in these uncertain times.
I have no doubt that we are nearer to this goal with the appointment of Commodore Camacho. As Margaret Thatcher famously said, “if you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” The rise of female leaders in the AFP welcomes a new era of feminine values which will ultimately redound to the benefit of the nation. Ang tagumpay ng babae ay tagumpay ng buong bansa.
Ikinagagalak ko pong i-endorso ang appointment ni Commodore Luzviminda Camacho.
Maraming salamat po.
If there are any objections to my statement, for the record, it has nothing to do with Commodore Camacho.