Skydome, SM City North EDSA
22 November 2012

President Benigno S. Aquino III honoured the 5th National Congress of the Caucus of Development Non-Government Organization Networks (CODE- NGO) held at the Skydome, SM City North EDSA.

In his speech, the President praised these NGO networks for establishing a strong foundation towards good governance. “Mga mata kayong nagbabantay laban sa katiwalian, mga taingang nakikinig sa suliranin ng taumbayan; at mga tinig na inihahayag ang saloobin ng mga naisasantabi sa lipunan,” he said.

President Aquino added that many of his fellow servant leaders hailed from NGO networks. Among them are Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita “Ging” Deles, National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Secretary Joel Rocamora and the late Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo.

He also expressed his gratitude for the NGO’s active involvement in some of the programs implemented by the government such as the Full Disclosure Policy, Seal of Good Housekeeping, Performance Challenge fund by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the bottom-up budgeting.

“Sa tulong ng inyong sektor, nagawa nating baguhin ang imaheng naging tatak ng Pilipinas sa nakalipas na dekada: mula sa baluktot na pagmamando, itinawid natin ang bansa sa matuwid na pamamahala,” he said.

The President was also presented a framed copy of the Code of Conduct for Development NGO’s, a sign of their appreciation for his participation on the occasion.

CODE-NGO is the country’s biggest league of NGO’s rendering services for social development. They represent more than 1,600 development NGO’s, people’s organizations and cooperatives nationwide.

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