House of Representatives Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Saturday expressed hope that brighter days in 2021 are forthcoming, including the end of pandemic through a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for all Filipinos.
Romualdez, chairman of the House committee on rules, said the Duterte administration and Congress have been doing its utmost best to address the pandemic and help the economy recover from the devastating effects of COVID-19.
“With everybody pitching in to the cause of recovery, I am confident of seeing brighter days for all of us. Happy New Year, my friends, and may this year be the best of our lives,” Romualdez, co-chairman of the Defeat COVID-19 Ad Hoc Committee, said in his New Year’s message.
“I join my countrymen in praying that the year 2021 brings us better days and new hope for tomorrow that we can end the pandemic through safe, effective, and affordable vaccine against COVID-19 for all Filipinos,” said Romualdez, president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).
He lamented that the past year “may not be the best we had as it brought bitter memories of a global pandemic, which unleashed unparalleled devastation in our lives.”
“It also reminded us of a series of typhoons and natural calamities which claimed lives and wrought havoc to most parts of the country,” he added.
The trials we had in year 2020, however, also provided us with a glimpse of the best in Filipino character,” Romualdez, a lawyer from the University of the Philippines (UP) and president of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), said.
“We continue to stand tall in the face of adversities. We share what little we have to our less fortunate brothers and sisters. We tend to the needs of our neighbors. We take care of our older family members as well as the young. We stick as one family, no matter what. This sense of community and love for family, I believe, is the reason why we are able to weather any storm that come our way. This is also what we need to bounce back stronger in 2021,” he said.
“In welcoming the New Year, let us continue taking care of one another and never get tired of sharing our blessings with those in need. The year ahead may still be full of challenges but with each one of us fulfilling our chosen mission in life, there is no way that we can fail as a nation,” Romualdez said.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco earlier vowed to pass the remaining priority bills of President Duterte and other important measures pending in the House that would benefit much of the Filipino people.
“As House Speaker, together with your duly-elected Representatives, we did our best to pass timely and relevant laws to alleviate the plight of our people during these trying times. Rest assured we will continue to do so in the coming new year,” Velasco said.
“I also join the entire nation in hoping that an affordable, safe, and effective vaccine against COVID-19 will arrive in the Philippines at the soonest time possible. Having a safe and effective vaccine available to Filipinos is currently the best way for us to beat the virus,” he added.