Gov. Migs Dominguez Inaugural Speech

Provincial Capitol, Alabel, Sarangani
June 28, 2010

(Greetings)

Fellow elected officials; we just went through a democratic exercise where the will of the people prevailed.

Our people have put us in a position of public trust. It is trust that we should and must not fail.

Today, we take our oaths of office with a covenant that we will work for the aspirations of our people with unity in purpose and the purest of intentions.

All of us are here for a duty – to serve our beloved people of the province of Sarangani.

The people have spoken. It is time for us to cast aside our political affiliations, do away with our political and personal differences and march forward in unison.

It will be my third and final term of office.

It has been a rewarding - even if challenging – six years for me, and I will look ahead at the next three years as a completion to the chapter of my life in public office and I thank all of you for this.

Today, we are faced with greater challenges - challenges of maintaining and improving what we have accomplished while aspiring for more development for the province and the people of Sarangani.

Poverty is still the main obstacle to our success – although this is not exclusive only to us in Sarangani.

But I believed there is no obstacle in success that cannot be attained by an empowered and educated people - our people - my people.

I believe with the help of our newly elected officials, we will be better in improving what we have done over the past six years that we will do in this term - in three years time.

From the country’s fourth poorest province in the Philippines in 2004, we have leaped from being one of the poorest, and today, in 2009, we have leaped to 14th and hopefully, and my promise, by 2013, we will no longer be called a poor province in the Philippines. ‘Yan ang pangako ko sa inyong lahat.

All of us look forward to a Sarangani that is progressive and competitive. I ask that we focus all of our endeavors towards educating and addressing the needs of our people. A government that is focused on its people by developing our people’s core competencies in addressing the basic needs of our people: Education, Health, and Livelihood.

Let us work together to provide better opportunities for the people by ensuring that each and every child will have the opportunity to acquire quality and affordable education, and we shall promise that No child will be left behind in this province of Sarangani.

Let us work hand in hand in providing more job opportunities and livelihood to our people.

Let us all rise above political and ideological differences to ensure that peace will reign in order for progress and development to come in.

Let us be in the midst and in the front-door of our people in times of challenges, calamities and disasters and take the backstage in times of triumph.

For our success is our people’s victory.

Let us set the highest standards of public service by being transparent and being beyond reproach.

Let us become models of our youth and the others who will one day take our places.

Sarangani has indeed made the mark as one of the fastest rising provinces in the whole Mindanao.

In the last six years, we have established a well-liked reputation as a hospitable and investor-friendly province.

Our task is to make Sarangani a likeable place to live in where equal opportunities are made available to each and every person.

I have gone through the challenges and rough roads in the past and I have prevailed.

With you, my fellow officials, I do not see any reason why we cannot continue to do so.

To our people in Sarangani, for as long as I am your governor – with the help of my officials – rest assured that you can sleep soundly with the thought that each and everyone is secure with the hope of a better, brighter future ahead of all of you.

You can count that good governance will still be the cornerstone of our administration, and I will fulfill that covenant and obligation as a public official.

Three years from now, I hope we cannot just bid each other tearful goodbyes.

I hope that once we all part ways, we will have the highest esteem for each other - that you my people have helped me succeed, and that I did not fail you as your leader.

Maraming salamat. Good morning to all of you.