INTRODUCTION
Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat, at maraming salamat sa inyong mainit na pagsalubong sa amin.

Kinararangal ko at lubos akong nasisiyahan na sa pagdiriwang natin nitong ika-siyam na anibersaryo ng makasaysayang EDSA Rebolusyon tayo ay muling magkasama.

Ang aking nadarama ngayon sa ating pagtipon ay tulad din ng aking pakiramdam noong taong 1986, na kung saan ang buong bayang Pilipinas ay nagpamalas ng isang pambihirang pagkakaisa sa EDSA para sa kalayaan at higit na magandang kinabukasan.

Ang EDSA Rebolusyon po ay kilusang mamamayan na taglay ang pinamalaking lakas mula sa mga pangkaraniwang tao, na mahirap man o mayaman ay maigting na tumibok ang damdaming pilipino. Natuklasan natin na sa ating pagkakaisa ay walang adhikain ang hindi natin maabot.

Kaya’t sa pag-alala at sa pagsasa-buhay nang diwa ng EDSA Revolution, nararapat lamang na muling makapiling ko kayo — kayo na malapit sa aking puso at isipan, kayo na nagbibigay ng inspirasyon sa akin upang lalong itaguyod ang pagbabago ng ating lipunan.
UNITY AND SELF-RELIANCE
The EDSA Revolution taught us the value of people empowerment, and I am elated to see here how well you are employing this principle that I have made a guiding principle of my administration to improve the lives of Filipinos.

Ako po ay tuwang-tuwa sa aking nasaksihan ngayong araw na ito dito sa smokey mountain.

Ako po ay humahanga sa inyo, mga mamamayan dito sa Smokey Mountain sa inyong pagsisikap, katapangan sa buhay, pagtutulungan, at lalung-lalo na sa inyong sariling kakayahang maiangat ang inyong kabuhayan mula sa kahirapan.

Ang diwa pala ng EDSA ay diwa rin dito sa Smokey Mountain.

Indeed, if our EDSA experience has taught us anything, it is that we must have unity and self-reliance to wield as complementary tools to overcome our problems and build a better future for us.

At EDSA, victory was won by the people through their combined individual initiatives and by closely adhering to a single, common objective.

Today, the nation, as one, and the people, as individuals, can do no less as they face the new challenges and opportunities at hand. Here in this brave place, we can say that the smokey mountain development and reclamation project is indeed off to a good start, for unity and self-reliance are firmly in place.
TOWARD KAUNLARAN, KALAYAAN AT KAPAYAPAAN
Our collective efforts at advancing people’s welfare can be summed up in the three words that make up the theme of this year’s celebration of the EDSA Revolution anniversary: Kaunlaran, Kalayaan at Kapayapaan.

As we visited the woodwool cement board plant, we saw being planted the seeds of progress, or kaunlaran. Employment opportunities are being opened up for the residents — a good number has already started training in the manufacture of the woodwool boards for housing.

We see the construction of the temporary housing building for the project beneficiaries as kalayaan, or the start of liberation from a miserable environment.

I note with pleasure that the Filipino bayanihan spirit is being applied in implementing the Bahay Buhaynihan Program. This program espouses self-sufficiency and self-reliance and has aptly adopted the slogan, Sariling Kayod Para sa Sariling Bahay.

Very soon the reclamation project will be finished, there shall be permanent housing for residents and an efficient waste management system shall be installed. These will signal the realization of freedom from want and poverty.

When these projects are accomplished, it will be because of the great efforts at trisectoral cooperation and coordination among the government sector people’s organizations and non-governmental organizations currently being demonstrated to speed up the socio-economic development of Smokey Mountain.

I therefore congratulate and further enjoin the national housing authority (NHA), Alsakris, Akbayan, Katipunan and the NGOs to vigorously pursue their laudable activities to provide livelihood and employment for residents here.

By helping the people of smokey mountain obtain a decent and dignified source of income and by proceeding posthaste with the construction of the needed infrastructure here we move closer to attaining for them and our society true peace, or kapayapaan.
CLOSING
Let the spirit of EDSA move us ever nearer to our common goal of an improved quality of life for all Filipinos. Let it push us forward, strong and determined to stamp out poverty and despair.

Let it lift us high as we ride on the crest of our people’s hopes and dream.

Let us keep these noble aspirations as our very own and let us begin to act towards their realization, here today at Smokey Mountain.

Mabuhay ang diwa ng EDSA Rebolusyon!

Mabuhay kayong lahat!