President Sergio Osmeña's speech inducting his Cabinet (last of the series)
This is the last installment of the speech of President Osmeña when he inducted his Cabinet into office on March 8, 1945. It is a very important speech in Philippine history narrating the story of how the country was invaded, stood up, and rose from the devastation of the war. This speech should be studied and learned by every Filipino so we will understand World War II in our country and the challenges of getting back on our feet:
"It is a mutual agreement designed not only for the protection of both nations but as a contribution to the peace of the Pacific region and the collective security of the nations of the world.
"We stand for a new world free from want and fear, provided with greater safeguards for lasting peace and offering ample opportunities for friendly negotiations and judicial adjudication of international disputes and the self-development of nations. We are ready to take part, in close association with the United States, in any international pact based on justice and directed toward the organization and preservation of the peace of the world.
"On these principles we take our stand.
"By the miseries, the sufferings and the sacrifices undergone by our people during their long night of captivity;
"By the smoke that even now rises from our ravaged cities, towns and villages;
"By the blood, Filipino as well as American, which was poured out so unstintedly at Bataan and on Corregidor; in the hills of Leyte and plains of Luzon, and all over the Philippines;
"We call on the God of Nations to witness, for ourselves and for a people welded into one in the crucible of fire, this pledge to consecrate to the determined prosecution of this war until final victory is achieved, our lives, and that which our fathers have bequeathed to us and without which life would be meaningless - our Sacred Honor."
Among the Cabinet members of Osmeña in 1945 were Tomas Confessor, Secretary of the Interior; Jaime Hernandez, Secretary of Finance and Reconstruction; Delfin Jaranilla, Secretary of Justice, Agriculture and Commerce; Alfredo Montelibano Sr., Secretary of National Defense and Interior; Jose Locsin, Secretary of Health and Public Welfare; Francisco Benitez, Secretary of Education; Sotero Cabahug, Secretary of Public Works and Communications; Jose Reyes, Secretary of the President; and Carlos P. Romulo, Resident Commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives.
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