Pia's co-sponsorship speech honoring 8th UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
Transcript of Sen. Pia Cayetano's speech in support of Senate Resolution No. 929

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, I rise today to co-sponsor Senate Resolution No. 929 honoring the 8th United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, and commending his outstanding contributions to the international community.

Mr President, I would like our distinguished guest to know that the Philippines is one of only a handful of countries that actually has a committee on sustainable development goals. And this is inspired no less by the work of our distinguished guest. It is under his leadership that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals was established.

Our colleagues, not the Senate President, are probably tired of me always mentioning sustainable development goals, sustainable development goals. And it's such an honor, Mr President, for this representation to be in the presence of the leader of the United Nations who established this.

And I say this with a big smile, but at the same time, it's also a warning. We only have 6 years; 2030 is 6 years from now. And all of these goals were established precisely to push us, to push the leadership of every country towards that direction, to attain the goals that were set because these goals will really set the minimum standard, Mr President, the minimum standard of decent life that we all aspire for in our respective countries.

This representation, Mr President, also has the honor of being a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Bureau of the Standing Committee on UN Affairs. For the information of our distinguished guest, a couple of our colleagues here have paved the way for this representation's active participation in international events like this. The late father of our Minority Floor Leader, Koko Pimentel, Sen. Nene Pimentel, was this representation's mentor in the IPU work, wherein as a very young senator, 20 years ago, well I think 19 years ago, I participated in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations has always been a partner with members of parliament in moving forward sustainable development in our agenda.

And so, it is with this background that I join all of our colleagues in honoring our guest. And we are reminded of the values that he embodies, his life's work urges us to look beyond our differences and to work together for a common purpose. He has shown us that leadership is not about power but about responsibility and the ability to inspire change.

We thank our guest and the DFA, and the international associations who supported this man's work and allows us to continue also in the same direction. Thank you, Mr President.