Congratulations to BAGHAWI Class of 2008.

Congratulations to your parents, other family members and friends who shared your dreams and inspired and supported you.

Congratulations to the people of the Philippines who spent for your military education so that you will work for the common good. They are tired of the politics of division and despair. They want you to keep our nation safe, secure and moving forward.

Every Filipino wants a good job, food on the table, a sound education for their children. Dear parents, congratulations to you and the PMA for giving your children a sound education.

BAGHAWI Class of 2008, know the multifaceted roles of a twenty-first century soldier: not just a combatant but a military professional, a manager, a partner in development. Your four-year stay in the Academy honed the skills you to perform these roles.

PMA exposed you not only to military science but to other aspects of national life such as the actual experience of building the hopes of our fellow Filipinos through the Gawad Kalinga and distributing relief goods to the calamity stricken.

Innovations gave your class a sense of distinction. The greatest paradigm shift in the military protocol which is at the helm of those innovations was the deviation of the class from "Rank has its Privilege" to "Rank has its Responsibility."

Your classes focused on institutional building and shifted from personality-driven to institutional leadership.

You will be leaders of character.

You will be fine pillars of a strong economy and a strong military free from corruption.

We have placed mechanisms to fix the corruption that still plagues our nation, such as a Procurement Transparency Group, a partnership between government and civil society to make sure that biddings for projects will be above board. The group has members from the Makati Business Club and the Ateneo School of Government G-Watch, among others, and lately the National Secretariat for Social Action of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines. At present, this group monitors 40 priority projects, including the petroleum, oil and lubricants procurement of the AFP.

An essential part of building a modern nation in these trying times is to have a military as strong and modern as the nation it serves. We have put our money where our rhetoric is. We have invested heavily in new and better equipment, more and better training and more cooperation with our allies in professionalizing our military.

We are investing in brand new helicopters, in watercraft, squad automatic weapons, mortars and military trucks radio systems and force protection equipment. We are investing in the great Filipino soldier through better care and improved services. Maraming buhay na nasagip ang kagyat na saklolo at pagamot ng Forward Field Medical Support System. Pinopondohan din natin ang pag-upgrade ng mga ospital ng hukbo, gaya ng Camp Bautista Trauma Hospital sa Jolo, at hindi kukulang sa isang bilyong pisong pabahay.

The 2008 budget allocates of P12 billion for a 10% increase in the basic salary of civilian, military and uniformed personnel starting July.

We have set 2010 as the deadline to win the war against the insurgency. As of last year, we had succeeded in halving the number of active insurgents in 2001.

The way to win isn't just through the barrel of a gun. Rather it begins with providing a person a job, food on the table and human dignity. Central to that success is to invest in the people – in education, healthcare, roads, bridges. We have allocated P1 billion in the 2008 DND budget for this.

Our central objective to create more jobs and grow our economy is to invest, invest and invest. We have been doing that. We have the strongest economy in over 30 years as a result of the tough reforms we have made to break the cycle of despair which has kept our nation back.

Our strengthened economic fortunes come none too soon, for there are clouds on the economic horizon that we must guard against. Much remains to be done to lift up our poor.

I learned that the battle cry of the BAGHAWI Class 2008 is "BAGHAWI-Buo." This emanated from the earlier cry "BAGHAWI – Not One Less." Buo nating itaguyod ang mga pangarap ng bawat Pilipino. Not one less of the BAGHAWI Class 2008 shall stray from the time-tested virtue of the Philippine Military Academy – Courage, Loyalty, Integrity. Much will be expected of you.

I now pardon the outstanding punishments of the cadet corps of the PMA as may be prescribed by the Superintendent.