A time to heal, a time to build: Inaugural address of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, January 21, 2001.

In all humility, I accept the presidency of the Republic.

I do so with both trepidation and a sense of awe.

Trepidation, because it is now, as the good book says, a time to heal and a time to build. The task is formidable, and so I pray the we will be one, one in our priorities, one in our values and commitments, and one because of EDSA 2001.

Sense of awe, because the Filipino has done it again on the hallowed ground of EDSA.

People power and the "oneness" of will and vision have made a new beginning possible. I cannot, therefore, at this point, but recall Ninoy Aquino's words:

"I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino, and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for."

As we break from the past in our quest for a new Philippines, the unity, the Filipino's sense of history, and his unshakeable faith in the Almighty that prevailed in EDSA '86 and EDSA …