What did Chief Justice Reynato Puno said at the Andres Bonifacio National Monument on 12th of June to commemorate the Independence of the country? I did not get the full speech of what may have been the best speech given that day but here are some snippets:"As long as the Filipino suffers from the lack of proper education, we are not free. Those who cannot understand their rights and responsibilities to society can never be free.
"As long as there are those who seek for new lives abroad because they find disillusionment and lack of hope in the future of this country, we are not truly free. Where there remains a hand outstretched and begging for food in the streets, and there are those who are forced to commit a crime only to survive, we are not truly free.
"As long as there is disrespect to even just a single vote of a citizen, we are not free."
"Liberty goes hand in hand with dignity. A person that is truly free is possessed of dignity–he is full and complete. He is nobody's slave and is dictated upon only by his own conscience.
"It is true that we have achieved one form of liberty–that which is called `political independence' or the right to self-governance. We are no longer under the control of a foreign people.
"But let us ask ourselves, how is the Filipino today? Does he enjoy the benefits of dignity? Can we truly say that he can hold his head high before everyone? Because what our heroes fought for is not an abstract idea, but that we should concretize dignity in our lives.
"To have a sufficient means of livelihood, to have a source of food for the table, to have education for the youth, and a safety net for the elderly in the society.
"It is our duty to repay, in honor of those who worked hard for us in the past, that we also work hard not only for the present, but most importantly for the future of our country."
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