I
am very happy and honored to congratulate all the graduating students of my
dear Alma Mater, the Pampanga High School which I love very, very much. I mean
it.
I
am coming today as an alumnus. I have to say sorry for not coming earlier and
more often. But the honor of your kind invitation has deeply humbled me and
changed my life more than you will ever know. I thank all of you.
YOU,
the graduates, are fortunate. For it is not every Filipino’s fortune to be in
your shoes at this moment.
You
have every reason to be grateful as well as to celebrate. For today is the first day of the
rest of your life.
The
future is yours for the taking. It is here and now. The choice is all yours…
But this
is only the commencement of greater things. Take the journey, then, and move
forward and upward. For the best is yet to come.
To
all the parents who are here, please accept my warmest congratulations. The
graduation of your children today is a convincing proof of your parental
success. You are blessed and you deserve every blessing such as your children’s
achievement.
Not
all parents are as blessed. For parents may have all the money and the fame in
the world, but if they fail to send their children to school, they have nothing
left to be proud of. They would be like nice-looking boats on a dry land -
empty and useless.
Parental
encouragement, however, never ends with the graduation of our children. It can
only begin, it should even improve. Thus, continue to look after the children.
For they are your children forever.
Do
not us them to make you rich. For God did not give us our children and make
them instruments for our personal glory and aggrandizement. Only ask them to
make their best choices.
Inspire
the to live their own lives the right way. Their lives – including errors of
judgment in the future – are their own.
The
famous Lebanese-American philosopher, KHALIL GIBRAN – wrote as much about
children and I quote:
Your
children are not your children.
They
are sons and daughters
Of
life’s longing for life itself.
They
may came through you
But
not from you.
You
may give them your love,
But
not your thoughts.
For
they have their own thoughts.
You
may house their bodies,
But
not their soul.
For
their souls rest
In
the house of tomorrow
Which
you can not visit
Not
even in your dreams. (unquote)
To all
the teachers goes my perpetual admiration and gratitude. Without teachers,
there can never be leaders. Without leaders, there can be no Civil Society that
is proud of the virtues of the many hostile to the vices of the few. Hold on to
the fort / and keep the faith alive, anew, and afire.
If
only to inspire our faculty, let me tell you of a certain Harvard professor by
the name of George Herbert Palmer. All his life he preached but one principle:
Teaching is more fully professional impelled by honorable rather than
utilitarian motives. He once said that if Harvard did not pay him to teach, he
would gladly pay Harvard for the privilege of teaching.
Having said that, may I now ask all the graduating
students to show their gratitude to their parents and their teachers by means
of a big roaring applause…
As I
feel the euphoria of all these commencement exercises, I fell even more
convinced that the real solution to poverty and destitution is a good
education. Let me now contribute my mind to your beautiful commencement them,
namely:
Education Towards A Strong
Republic – Laying A Solid Foundation.
What is
a Republic? In its simplest meaning, a republic is a state in which sovereignty
resides in the people and that such people are entitled to vote for their
leaders of choice who can represent them in government.
To
be a citizen is to be sovereign. To be sovereign is first to be responsible.
And to be responsible is to be educated.
Nobody
disputes that our state is a republic. The citizens are sovereign and are
entitled to service and protection by government. In fact, every three years,
the sovereign citizens elect their own leaders. In May this year, we are again
going to show to the world that we are a republic.
What
has education to do with the creation and preservation of a strong republic?
Everything. Where masses of
people suffer from ignorance, they can never enjoy the blessings and benefits
of a strong republic. The superpower that is USA today is so, simply because,
of the quality and quantity of its educated citizenry.
Have
you ever pondered what actually happens to an educated citizen? It is not
certain that he becomes wealthy and arrogant. But it is absolutely certain that
he does not become poor and ignorant.
No
child has an inalienable right to grow poor and without education. Thus, It is
very inspiring that our President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has given primacy to
the eradication of poverty. And if we are to succeed, there is no better option
left than to have a good education such as you are showing now.
I am voicing the immemorial wisdom and
unsinkable optimism of the ages. There are good reasons. Let me explain.
At
the end of the day, we have to realize we are children of one and the same
generous Father in heaven. We could not have been created to become poor or
remain helpless on earth. Because we are children of one and the same creative
Father in heaven, we have every faculty to have everything we need on earth.
Let
me hasten to add, however, the other part of this truth: While God has all the power to
provide for all our needs, He has no power at all to satisfy anyone’s greed.
The
majority of the 6 billion people in this world today are poor.
The majority of the 84 million Filipinos today are poor. Some say the poor are
poor because they are not born with rich parents. Others say the poor are poor
because they are not entrepreneurial. Still some others say the poor are poor
because they are not into illegal things.
Let
me share some observations from my own personal experience. First, it is
genetically impossible for everyone to be born with rich parents. Second, it is
socially unlikely for everyone to be an entrepreneur. And third, nobody in his
right senses would want to be rich by means of the fruits of violence and
crime.
Yet,
There is a way out from the empire of poverty. It is EMPLOYABLE FORMAL EDUCATION. Which is what you are getting now
from your graduation. Education may not be everything; IT IS THE ONLY THING.
In fact,
this is the central vision of our alma mater, which you and I must bring with
us wherever you may go. It envisions
this millennium as an era of networked education, where the whole country is
composed of communities of scholars, intellectuals, technology researchers and
innovators – whose combined capabilities and resources stand up to the more complex
challenges of the new millennium.
In this
age of globalization, he who has knowledge will never become poor. And he who
has specialized knowledge, may even become wealthy. It is true that Bill Gates
is not a product of high formal education. His is not the rule. He is the
exception. Other mortals like us need education – and the highest education
there is as much as possible.
And
so I say again: The commencement is only the first step towards the highest
mountain of your hopes and dreams. Your best graduation will be your
own-initiated continuing professional education. For it must be true: The
biggest room on earth was in the beginning, as it is now and ever shall be the
room for self-improvement.
No
less than the immortal Mark Twain expressed the same statement but only in a
different fashion. He said and I quote:
There is nothing training can not do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn bad morals to good. It can destroy bad principles and recreate good ones. It can even lift men and make the angels. (unquote)
There
is one other law of life that I have learned and which I re-discovered in my
life. It has everything to do with biblical wisdom. It is the Law of the Harvest.
The
law is very simple that sometimes we miss the whole point: What you sow, you reap. The law is universal, inexorable, immutable
and admits no exception.
The
Law of the Harvest prescribes that every doer shall receive the exact result or
reward of his actions. Your graduation is the exact reward of all your struggles
in the last so many years of your academic life. Philosophers call the law as
cause and effect. Physicists refer to it as the law of equilibrium. Among law
and criminology graduates, it is known as justice – to each his own due. It is,
in fact, the decisive principle of right and wrong.
Applying
the Law of the Harvest, let me now
say something on leadership. In school, your duty is to learn. In your work and
profession, your mission is to lead. To live is to lead.
In
the PNPA, the premier school of Public Safety Officers its motto is:
Learn Today And Lead Tomorrow.
To be a leader is first to have a good and strong character. This requires the moral courage to do what is right. The saying is right: If you lose your health, you lose something. But when you lose your character, you lose everything.
To
be a leader means also to do things right. You need experience to be capable.
Competence is not a product of chance or accident.
With
character and competence, you are now prepared to lead. And if you lead, you
are sure to know what to live is all about.
Your
point of power is NOW – this Year 2004. It is a year of challenges, choices,
and changes. And talking about change, let me share with you my favorite story.
When I was young and the world was under the
control of my imagination that knew neither fear nor limits, I wanted to change
the world. But sadly, the world refused to change. It remained immovable.
Then I grew older and even wiser. And I narrowed
down my vision and wanted to change only my country. But sadly, my country
refused to change. It also remained immovable.
As I approached the twilight of my life, I narrowed
down my vision even further. I just wanted to change the attitude of my family,
which was sinking in pessimism and despair. But sadly, even my family refused
to change. It simply remained immovable.
Now – as I lie on my deathbed with only a few hours
to live – I realize that if I had only changed MYSELF first, then perhaps I
would have been able to change the negative attitude of my family…With a
renewed family. Then I would have been able to make my country a better
country…And, who knows, I may even have been able to make this world a better
place, a safer place, a happier place to live in.
Once more, Congratulations to all the graduates, all the
parents, and all the teachers and staff of this great institution of learning –
my very own Alma Mater.
Thank
you very much!