Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto addressed the following points during this week’s flag-raising ceremony:

00:01–00:24: Mayor Vico greeted everyone with a morning, after which he acknowledged the presence of City officials and personnel from both local and national government agencies who attended the flag-raising ceremony.

𝟬𝟬:𝟮𝟱–𝟬𝟮:𝟮𝟰: 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗴𝗮𝘁

- Mayor Vico expressed delight at the good weather and hoped it would continue to improve or remain manageable amid possible succeeding rain showers, based on forecasts.

- He then thanked personnel and volunteers who participated in the city’s disaster risk response efforts last week, both at the Incident Command Post and in the field, including health centers and evacuation centers.

- He shared that the response team typically involves up to 3,000 or more personnel, depending on the situation, including the City Government, national government, and barangay personnel and volunteers from various non-government organizations. He noted that the local government employees, who are internally referred to as “Team However" as they report for duty even during work suspensions, have grown accustomed to it.

- He thanked those who worked overtime in recent days and expressed hope that overtime work for disaster response would no longer be necessary in the coming years.

𝟬𝟮:𝟮𝟱–𝟬𝟵:𝟯𝟵: 𝗢𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘆-𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹

- Mayor Vico discussed the recent arrest of a former administrator of the Barangay Government of Kalawaan who was found involved in procurement anomalies. He stressed that putting government employees in jail is not something to celebrate, but is nevertheless necessary. He also noted that more barangay officials may face arrest.

- He emphasized the City Government’s mission to denormalize corruption and make it a culture that is unacceptable and deeply condemned.

He explained that the Kalawaan case was pursued within the local government’s authority and jurisdiction, particularly through the City Council’s Blue Ribbon Committee when convened as a quasi-judicial body.

- He announced that a case summary involving suspended barangay officials will be made available to the public.

- Mayor Vico acknowledged that fighting corruption may mean losing friends in the process and that eliminating deeply rooted practices cannot be achieved within a single term or even nine years, but requires a generational effort. Nevertheless, he assured everyone that the administration will continue to push forward.

- He detailed the Kalawaan case, including the alleged modus of deceiving barangay’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Council members by offering to make procurement faster and easier, ultimately drawing them into corrupt practices.

- He expressed dismay that young and inexperienced leaders, SK officials, are being targeted and exposed to corruption.

- He called on other SKs with pending investigations to come forward, provide evidence, and report similar cases, assuring them that the City Government will act on them.

- He thanked the informant whose evidence helped lead to the entrapment and arrest, while acknowledging the risks involved in speaking out against corruption. Nevertheless, he encouraged SK officials to work with the local government in exposing such practices.

- Citing the well-known view of the youth as the country’s hope, Mayor Vico once again expressed disappointment that young people are being targeted by corruption and he emphasized that it is among the saddest and most heinous forms of wrongdoing.

- He reiterated that the City Government, together with the SKs, will continue working to put an end to deeply entrenched and harmful systems, despite the inconvenience, discomfort, and difficulty.

09:40–09:42: Mayor Vico concluded his speech by thanking everyone and wishing them a good morning.

To watch Mayor Vico Sotto's speech, click this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1RdvUJUYzt/