In her first speaking engagement as the new chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Acting Secretary Virginia N. Orogo paid tribute to outstanding mothers for their steadfast support and devotion to strengthen Filipino values and family ties during the 25^th Ulirang Ina Awards 2018.

The event was organized by the Ulirang Ina Ama Awards Foundation, Inc. and was held at the Manila Hotel to recognize mothers who are not only capable of managing their households, but are also excelling in their respective fields in the Law and Judiciary, Governance and Public Service, Medicine and Allied Sciences, Law Enforcement, Business and Industry, Education, and Socio-Civic and Religious sectors.

“The family is the basic unit of our society. Strong families make a strong community, but the secret of a strong family is the presence of a mother, nanay, mamang or inay,” stated Sec. Orogo in her keynote speech.

“Gone were the days when a mother’s numerous roles are boxed within the four corners of the home. Many of us are forerunners in different fields such as the executive, judiciary, development, health, transport, entrepreneurship, clerical, and other productive endeavours which each one of us might be in,” she said.

“Women and mothers’ contributions have made a huge skip in nation building and human development. Simultaneous with our inherent role as loving mothers, we are living in a fast-changing society where we need to step up with the greater challenge of showcasing our motherhood for the progress and peace of our motherland,” she said.

Lastly, she encouraged the awardees to continue to contribute to nation building and to help bind the country in its pursuit of peace and development.

“Let us all work together as one nation, singing the same lullaby for peace, holding our hands together for sustainable development and pouring the warmth of our love for unity and progress,” she ended. ###