Outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo on Independence Day urged Filipinos to assert the truths of the country's history and "affirm what is right and true."
Robredo in her message described history as a "thread that can never be broken," which holds together Filipinos who dream of a better life.
"It reminds us: Victory is not achieved overnight. It is comprised of many chapters of exhaustion and fear, of courage and greatness, of perseverance and combat," she said.
"Any freedom that our ancestors might have achieved is but one step in the long path towards national fruition— a journey that we continue to tread until today."
The vice president, who recently lost her presidential bid in the May elections, called on Filipinos to "forge on" and remember the journey to becoming a unified nation.
"We are called to forge on, aware of all that we have had to go through as a unified nation," she said.
"As ordinary citizens, there is much we can do. Be open and loving; help those in need. Affirm what is right and true, and assert the truths of our history. Find inspiration in one another, and from those who came before."
"Stand firm on a story that can never be changed, stolen, erased— a story that binds us according to a collective past, and allows us the strength to march towards a collective future," she added.
Robredo is expected to step down as vice president on June 30, as Vice President-elect Sara Duterte assumes office.
