MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo is hoping for a “good kind of change” this 2017.

In her New Year message, the Vice President urged Filipinos to remain hopeful and have faith that the good and the right would prevail in the end.

“This coming year, may the good kind of change be placed in our hearts, in our daily lives and in our being Filipinos,” Robredo, who resigned from the Cabinet on Dec. 4, said.

The Vice President, who is in the United States to spend the holidays with her family, said the New Year brings new opportunities for everyone, expressing hope that Filipinos would welcome 2017 with peace and light in their hearts.

“Let us live simply, appreciate the simple joys, deepen our service to our loved ones and widen our understanding of the plight of those in the margins,” she added.

“Peace in our homes enables us to remain strong whatever storms may come to our country. We can see the light even in the darkest night as long as we know how to be thankful in our hearts,” she added.

Robredo has vowed to continue working with the administration even while criticizing its policies that are deemed to be against the people and democracy.

She also denied involvement in supposed plots to oust President Duterte, saying criticisms should not be taken as a part of conspiracy to remove the Chief Executive from office.

Change in form of government

Meanwhile, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez vowed yesterday that he and his colleagues would work on the shift to the federal system this year.

“As we enter 2017, let us forge a strong unity behind the reform agenda of the Duterte administration. Let us all work together to put an end to mass poverty, strengthen our democratic institutions and move our country forward,” he said in a New Year’s message to the nation.

“Let us take the first of the many giant steps we as one nation must undertake to effect a paradigm shift by changing our form of government from presidential to federal,” he said.

“Let’s all open our eyes that it is only through federalism that we can break the barriers of a fatally flawed Manila-centrist government to one that grants political and economic autonomy to all of our country’s regions,” he said.

Duterte has said he was willing to accept a shortened term of office if the country shifts to the federal system before his tenure ends in 2022.

Alvarez also promised that the House of Representatives would work harder this year.

He said he considered the first six months of the 17th Congress as “very productive.”

“We have deliberated upon and passed meaningful legislation aimed at enhancing economic growth, social progress and political stability over the long term. I am proud to say that the House of Representatives worked really hard in the past six months to pass laws consistent with the comprehensive reform program of the Duterte administration,” he said.

“But we cannot be complacent. Much work remains to be done, and we commit to work even harder in the months ahead so that our nation can attain peace and prosperity that we all hope for,” he said.

He added that Filipinos have much to be thankful for in 2016.

“We conducted free and fair elections in May and elected Rodrigo Duterte as President for the next six years,” he added.

Alvarez pointed out that in his its first six months in office, Duterte and his administration have “made significant gains not only in the war on illegal drugs and in fighting crime and corruption, but also in laying the ground for sustained socio-economic advance, lasting peace and political reforms.”