| ALLSAINTS MISSION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-
A TALE OF SURVIVAL AND QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE SPEECH: ALL SAINTS MISSION SCHOOL 100TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY OCTOBER 30, 2006, BONTOC, MT. PROVINCE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND GREETING: My initial reaction to the invitation for me to be your guest speaker during this momentous occasion is one bordering between flattery to bafflement. I could not help but search for reasons why the honor. Honestly, my initial reaction was not to accept it but I could not pass the chance in a lifetime to be given the privilege of expressing my gratitude to a school that has, one way or another, molded my character beyond my imagination. Whatever hesitancy to accept the honor as your guest speaker arises from the fact that as far as my memory can recall, I do not remember myself as an outstanding pupil that All Saints Mission Elementary School can be proud of back then. To the contrary, I was the embodiment of mediocrity, hard headedness and despair. I can recall how some of my teachers then would label me in comparison with the rest of my siblings and classmates, and was pre-judged as a pupil with no bright future in store. Today is homecoming for all alumni of ASM. While I was a pupil of this institution from grade two to grade six, I did not graduate grade seven which was then the last elementary grade during our time for reasons that are obvious. In my desire to escape the strict discipline of my late father stationed here in Bontoc, I left this institution without having to undergo grade seven and jumped straight to first year high school in my hometown in Banaue. Despite these circumstances, I consider myself an alumna of All Saints Mission Elementary School. I most certainly welcome the opportunity to be with you this morning in celebration of the 100th year centennial anniversary of All Saints Mission Elementary School and in congratulating ourselves for being part of a pioneer educational institution that had withstood the test of time. With you this morning, I find myself freed from the tensions and stress that go along with the performance of my duties and functions as a public servant of my Province of Ifugao. It is said that life is lived forward but is understood backward. The All Saints Mission Elementary School has a history of 100 years of excellence. History is defined by authors, writers, and historians in their own ways, and based on their own perceptions but I always told students, during my stint as an instructor of the Baguio Colleges Foundation, now University of the Cordilleras, that HISTORY is actually the study of the PAST in order to understand the PRESENT so that we can chart how our future would be. That is history in capsule, to make us make appropriate choices. Indeed, the vast experiences of this institution and those that have passed through her portals, one way or another, can provide a rich source of material that could help improve its competent edge in bringing quality education and producing quality graduates. With the present leadership of ASM being able to really understand the history of this institution, I believe thus, that ASM has another one hundred years of excellence to look forward to. On my part as a former pupil of ASM, while UI may have unwittingly mentioned a seemingly vague memory and experience in this institution as a child from a province that is culturally different from this place, I can honestly say that, I do not harbor any bitterness or regret that I ever stepped in the portals of ASM. Looking back, this institution is very much part of the man that I have become. I am sincerely grateful for all that ASM has done for me. In fact, it is this deep sense of gratitude that I accepted this invitation. ASM has imbued in me some of life’s greatest lesson that are very useful in my present career. I have always been open and candid even back in my province that while I am FBI, full blooded Ifugao, I am Bontoc bred, reared and educated. I do take pride in this. The environment during my school days here in ASM is radically different from today. Then, cultural understanding and tolerance were vague ideals and pupils including teachers were bound by and acted according to what culture and conventions have taught them. To most of my contemporaries, I was an outsider, an Ifugao who had to work for his acceptance coupled with my feelings that to some of my teachers, I was just another mediocre pupil whose continued stay in ASM is being tolerated in deference to my father who was then a high ranking public school official. Be that as it may have been, I was basically an Ifugao with so much pride within himself, an intrinsic trait among us as a people to appoint that it becomes counter-productive more often than not. My stint in ASM was instrumental in tempering the pride that my forebears have passed on to me and in lieu thereof, I have learned the essence and meaning of humility, perseverance and survival. These traits inculcated in me by this institution we are honoring today have motivated me in many ways to excel in college and in my chosen field of profession. I would proudly say today without mental reservation that while the Ifugao pride sometimes sticks its ugly head on me, the lessons I have learned and the traits inculcated by the school are being put to good use in my present career as a public servant of my people. With these, modesty aside, yours truly is making a big difference in Ifugao in terms of the political, economic and social landscape towards a more dynamic, progressive and responsive province to the needs of her people. Today I came here to attend this momentous centennial celebration with no other purpose but solely to express my sincerest gratitude to an institution, and the people behind it, that was very much a part of the process that made me what I am today. Indeed, what we are is God’s gift to us. What we make of ourselves, however, should be our gift to humanity. In Ifugao we say HAGIYO but being here I say, “Matagotago tako ammin.” Good day to all! CONGRESSMAN SOLOMON CHUNGALAO REPRESENTATIVE LONE DISTRICT OF IFUGAO |
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