Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Saturday said that national transformation will become a reality in the country once individuals and the government become collectively transformed and work together with the right values and vision.
In an interview with reporters in Baguio City on November 25, 2023, Cayetano said his goal is to push for these in the Senate in the next few years.
“Transformation starts within yourself. Unless there’s transformation, bale-wala y’ung changes dahil babalik din [sa dati],” he said.
“And the [end goal] has to be transformation of the nation because if you change but around you the culture is the same, hindi magiging makabuluhan ang transformation kasi lalamunin ka ng sistema,” he added.
Cayetano related this in context of the country’s lingering problems on issues like education and the economy, coming off from the plenary debates for the 2024 national budget this past week.
“Maraming kailangan i-review sa itatanim [sa 2024 budget], including sa everyday needs ng mga tao. It really starts with values. I’m very happy na inamin ng Department of Education through the Vice President na the education sector is in crisis… because walang masosolve kung hindi aaminin na may problema… Challenge pa rin ang inflation at patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo,” he said.
He said he raised the alarm bells during the Senate’s plenary debates so that this will be urgently addressed by the government.
“I want to sound the alarm bells, ngayon pa lang, because unless we fix the deficiencies in K to 12 or we take out the extra 2 years, we will not do justice to the next generation,” he said.
As the work continues, Cayetano said he will seek to address such persisting problems by helping the government plan and to have the right values and vision.
“Isang pinupush ko talaga y’ung values kasi kung tama y’ung values ng tao, kung tama ang itinanim, tama ang aanihin,” he said.
He said this is the reason for his trip to Baguio to join a Christian conference that is focused on strategies in transformation.
“We are here in Baguio City today for a conference of policemen. We are here to support, pray for them, and to speak [in the conference]… There are several groups locally and internationally with the focus of national transformation right now,” he explained.
Cayetano said his group, transformNATION Philippines, which advocated for this by holding conferences nationwide, is also eyeing to hold a conference in the City of Pines next year. ###
