Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III called on Filipinos on Wednesday to rally behind President Rodrigo Duterte, who he said has been working diligently “to bring back national honor and dignity.”

“It is under his leadership and vision that we must all rally around to in order to achieve liberty—to bring home those who are sacrificing overseas because they have no opportunities or alternatives here at home,” Pimentel said in a statement.

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The senator noted that the thrust of the Duterte administration was “to provide the basic needs of our people who have yet to experience any assistance or upliftment from the elected and appointed officials.

“Today freedom must mean overcoming the call of the times and the challenges of the moment; freedom from hunger, freedom from fear, freedom from the problems besetting a modern, developing, and constantly-changing world,” he said.

Pimentel is the president of the ruling PDP-Laban being chaired by Duterte.

To mark Independence Day on June 12, the Senate leader also called on the nation to remember and honor the courage of the men and women in uniform and thank them for their service to the country.

He pointed out that 119 years after the Philippines first won its independence, the country still faced “a continuing struggle and a different set of oppressors” and must still work collectively to win “real freedom.”

“Real freedom,” Pimentel said, must “mean real independence—not just freedom from foreign intervention but, more importantly, freedom from poverty and other social problems and freedom from lawlessness and also terrorism.”

The Senate leader said the chamber and the whole government were committed “to live up” to the expectations of the people and to give what the people deserve “not only as Filipinos but also as human beings in a free, just, humane and prosperous society.” JPV

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