Alam po ninyo sa palagay ko sa lahat ng mga lalawigan dito sa Pilipinas ay itong lalawigan na ito Pampanga ang aking nabisita, napuntahan, na-inspeksiyon more often than any other province during the last 12 months. Huwag sanang magselos iyong mga iba. Ngunit napilitan akong bumisita rito noong mga panahon ng first eruption of Mt. Pinatubo starting June 12, Independence Day 1991, takbo kami rito. At every Sunday iyon ang naging ritual namin dito sa Central Luzon, kay Jun Dumlao and the other members of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council for Region 3. At ako’y nakarating sa mga kasulok-sulukan ng Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales and of course Olongapo City and Bataan during those very critical and dramatic days when we did not know what this phenomenon called volcanic eruption was.

At noong panahon naman ng kampanya dahil sa I resigned as Secretary of Defense in July 1991 lagi akong inaanyayahan ni Bren Guiao na mangampanya rito sa Pampanga, I think he was worried not only for myself as a candidate but he was also worried about himself as provincial gubernatorial candidate. Kaya mabuti na lang nag-team up kami at maganda naman ang resulta. And some of you like the mayor, kagaya ni Nelson noong mag-motorcade tayo rito, nag-umpisa tayo rito sa may kapitolyo throughout the towns of Pampanga ay hindi lamang tayo inabot ng katakot-takot na tao, ang dami nila, ngunit inabot din tayo ng napakalakas na ulan parang bagyo na nga. But we went through it. And in the end I think it was our appearances here, our dialogues with the people because we made sure we stopped and talk with the people in the streets and the very intensive and thorough campaign of Bren Guiao and our supporters that carried the day overwhelmingly. Kaya ako po ay nagpapasalamat sa inyong lahat na taga-Pampanga at sa mga iba pang lugar sa Gitnang Luzon, dahil sa ipinakita ninyo ang inyong napakalakas at napakatatag na suporta at pagtulong kay Eddie Ramos.

Maaasahan po ninyo si Eddie Ramos ay marunong tumanaw ng utang na loob.

Ngunit tapos na po ang kampanya, we are now here at the new administration and we are all now officials and public servants for all of the Filipino people. It just happens that our first to the provinces outside of manila is here in Central Luzon, in Pampanga and Tarlac. Kaya sana huwag namang magselos iyong mga ibang regions at ako ay makakarating din sa mga lahat ng regions dito sa ating malawak na Republika in a very short time.

We now have to face many problems. And this is characterized, this is capsulized, this is represented by the problems arising out of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Unfortunately, tragically, it is Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales and Olongapo that have become the victims of this uncontrollable natural calamity. And we must now maximize our efforts and our resources so that we can not only mitigate the effects of that disaster but we must also maximize and integrate our efforts upang ang ating mga mamamayang pilipino iyong mga naging biktima ng napakahirap na suliraning ito will not only be taken care not only in the short term but also in the years to come.

Kaya mga kasama at mga kaibigan ang aming pinag-uusapan ngayon ay hindi lamang iyong immediate relief and rescue from the lahar flows ngunit ating dapat pag-isipan at pag-usapan iyong long-term livelihood and this economic viability of Central Luzon.

I am sure you will find me a very concerned and a very committed president when it comes to disasters and the effects thereof on our people. Dahil sa ako ay nagsilbing Chairman ng ating NDCC and I have been involved in programs of both an emergency, mid-term and long-term nature so that the people’s needs can be taken care of.

Now what we are in this position I can assure you that we will make sure that the ravages of this eruption and its consequences will not permanently cripple or disable the industrious and capable and talented people of Central Luzon especially Pampanga and Tarlac, Zambales and Olongapo and Bataan just because we were hit by a natural calamity. We can turn this catastrophe into an advantage that could bring about greater progress and stability for this region.

The disaster has unified us into action for the common good. While many have suffered from this calamity it is possible as we saw it in Tarlac earlier this morning that the serious disaster can be turned into new opportunities. Dahil nga sa this could be the start of real industrialization in this area so that we can generate more jobs for our people due to the inability later on of many farmers, many families whose livelihood is related to farming to return back to those activities in the future. And so everybody is now obligated to act and plan according to a new kind of situation which has been brought about by natural causes.

Kaya mga kaibigan at mga kasama ako’y naniniwala na hindi lamang tayo nagkaroon ng panibagong pagkakataon ngunit itong pinsalang ito, itong sakunang ito ay nagbigay ng opportunities of service for all of us. At sa palagay ko, ito ay kaya natin. Huwag ninyong kalimutan po iyan ang ating naging simbolo ng kampanya, “kaya natin ito mga Pilipino.”

Pero tapos na iyong kampanya. Kakampanya tayo for the next six years. Six years in my case, three years for some of you for a shorter term. Ang ating kampanya ay thumbs-up rin ngunit ating labanan ang mga problema tungkol sa poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment and high prices as well as all the other things that produce these very sad conditions.

At sa wakas aking inaanyayahan ang lahat ng ating mga kababayan na magkaisa, magtulong-tulungan at magsama-sama dahil kung tayo ay laging nagsasama-sama kaya natin iyan, kahit anuman ang krises.

Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat.