By Antonio P. Meloto
Gawad Kalinga
Ateneo de Manila University Commencement Exercises
25 March 2006
I asked some members of the senior class last week why they chose
me as their commencement speaker. I have no business empire. I hold
no political power. And I am no academic genius. I am just an ordinary
Filipino, a graduate of the Ateneo, who did not even excel as a student…
just an ordinary man who loves to tell stories about the extraordinary
things that people are doing for our country today.
And they told me--- because I represent a movement that presents
hope at this time when many in our country are in despair. You are
looking for hope in me, but I am here to tell you that this school
and the other members of this university have been a source of hope
and inspiration for me in the last three years.
When Father Ben Nebres and the Ateneo Board of Trustees bestowed
the Ozanam Award on Gawad Kalinga through me on July 23, 2003, they
triggered A REVOLUTION OF HOPE in the Ateneo…sweeping the Ateneo
from grade school, high school, college, to the Alumni... then leading
the way for other universities, corporations, government institutions
and Filipino organizations abroad to follow their example and joining
the bandwagon for nation building. The Ateneo is showing the world
that “The eagle will not fly without the poor”.
Thank you Father Ben for your great love for our country and for
inspiring the young to make a difference in the lives of our people.
Caring for the poor and restoring the dignity of the Filipino in his
own country have now become an urgent mission for Filipinos here and
abroad. This is not just healing for our country’s poor and
neglected but it is healing for me and many like me as well.
Unknown to most of you, for 32 years it wasn’t easy for me
to return to Ateneo. I didn’t come to the reunions and homecomings,
simply because of a sense of guilt of a person who grew up with the
suffering poor but later forgot them after I got an Ateneo education.
I was so focused on repackaging, and building up myself that I forgot
the accompanying responsibility that came with the privilege of an
Ateneo scholarship.
I forgot the poor… I left them behind. I left them like so
many others before me. There are many who blame the rich and powerful
for the plight of the poor. I know there is basis for the accusations
but I cannot bring myself to blame them. How could I expect them to
love the poor whom they do not know when I grew up poor and yet forgot
to help them, too.
I realized my great shortcoming as a Filipino in 1985 when I joined
Couples for Christ. It was then that I found my faith and grew a conscience
and decided to live a righteous life… to correct the mistakes
and the injustice committed to our country and to our people by people
like me. Couples for Christ taught me to repent for my sins and to
be genuinely sorry for the things I failed to do for my country and
for my people.
I am really sorry for the state of things, because of my failure
to do something about it. And many are now sorry, just like myself
because of this state of degradation… But feeling sorry is not
enough. Sorry does not restore beauty, sorry does not restore dignity,
sorry does not restore the plan of God for man. Sorry begins it, but
sorry is not enough.
What needs to be done is to bring sorry to action, to convert regret
to reform, to lift apathy to compassion and development. We who have
not done well by the talents and treasures we have been gifted with,
we who have abdicated our responsibility of shepherding the poor and
the young to their birthright of enjoying the treasures of a beautiful
and abundant country, we who have seen the errors of our ways and
are sorry --- we must now restore what we destroyed… or allowed
to be destroyed.
Because the Ateneo is a Christian university which believes in the
mission of forming students to become persons for others, the principle
of good over evil goes beyond the fundamental understanding of right
and wrong. It is not enough not to do wrong. To battle evil, we must
do good. The path of reform and transformation for Ateneans…
for Christians, must be one of peace. It must believe that good is
more powerful than evil, and only in the exercise of good can evil
be eliminated. Thus, the path of reform and transformation, personal
and social, must be a path of good works. Build homes. Build communities.
Build capacities. Restore dignity. Restore abundance. Restore beauty.
Restore peace. Build and restore, build and restore.
And you did! The eagle has landed in Payatas. Because you could not
bring the poor of Payatas to Ateneo, you brought Ateneo to the poor
of Payatas. In this once desolate place, you restored dignity, you
have brought back hope!
The former squatters now have security in their land. You transformed
200 shanties -- the slum and the garbage have now become a beautiful
middle class community. Crime has virtually disappeared. Former Street
children are now in school. The idle have been motivated to find employment
and are now living productive lives. Nawala ang sindikato sa lupa,
sa tubig, at sa ilaw. You have transformed hell into a piece of heaven…
all because you cared, you shared and you learned to work together.
The grade school worked with their parents, the high school students
gave up their parties… the college students gave up their weekends.
And the Alumni from all over the world also helped.
I salute and honor the eagles of Payatas, especially Steph Limuaco,
former President of the Ateneo Student Council and now full-time worker
of Ateneo for Gawad Kalinga, students, parents, the caretaker team
from CFC and Mayor Sonny Belmonte who not only paved the way for the
poor to own the land in Payatas but also paved the roads.
Again you performed the same miracle in Gabaldon! The surviving flood
victims who were once squatters living in dangerous areas now have
their own land in sites that have been cleared as environmentally
safe and their own sturdy homes. Now the people are growing their
own food and planting trees. Land for the landless, homes for the
homeless, food for the
hungry… For this I honor Mark Lawrence Cruz, the 300-strong
Team Gabaldon and Mayor Mandia. You washed away the mud of despair
and brought out the gold in the poor of Gabaldon. Gabaldon is part
of a massive rehabilitation and reconstruction effort called Kalinga
Luzon that goes beyond the usual relief operations after the calamity.
Malaki ang tulong dito ng 3 Atenista in helping 40,000 survivor families
of the Luzon typhoons and floods… Secretary of National Defense
and NDCC Chairman Avelino “Nonong” Cruz , Smart-PLDT Chairman
Manny Pangilinan and former Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo.
This afternoon I invited the proud leaders of Payatas and Gabaldon,
together with the mayors of Cabiao, San Isidro, and Gen. Tinio, Nueva
Ecija, who have also benefited from the help of Ateneo. They are here
to witness the graduation of a new breed of Ateneans and Filipinos
who not only have the brains but also the heart for our country and
our people.
The journey to rebuild our country is just beginning and moving towards
massive upscaling with the entry of corporations, national government
agencies, LGU’s and Filipino organizations abroad. Corporations
too are searching for a deeper and better _expression of corporate
social responsibility. Rival corporations are rising above business
competition to help. P&G and Unilever, Jollibee and McDonalds,
Shell and Petron, Pfizer and Wyeth and Smart-PLDT… and over
a hundred others. Sabi ng Shell
“Kung may layunin, malayo ang inyong mararating”. Sabi
ng Smart “We’re not just building homes, we’re building
a nation”. Both campaigns are inspired by the spirit of Gawad
Kalinga, the spirit of being a person for others – going beyond
conventional charity towards helping the poor become better stewards
of their families and their communities. Converting our human resource
from liability to asset, expanding the market base by empowering the
poor make good business sense!
This afternoon we have with us the country chairman of Shell Philippines,
Mr. Ed Chua, who is from La Salle and the president of Pfizer, Mr.
Gerry Bacarro, who is from Ateneo. Both are firm believers of corporate
social responsibility geared towards nation-building. It is our hope
that the stiff rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle in basketball will
be elevated to a higher level of nobility of building the most number
of houses and communities and educating the most number of poor children.
My fellow Ateneans, when you leave this campus, many of you will
join these corporations and will be happy to note that they have a
keener sense of social responsibility and a work environment that
will nurture your idealism.
In the field of governance, more than 300 mayors and governors have
chosen the same path of nation-building. Hundreds more will join this
year and members of Congress are being inspired to do the same. Many
of you will be the future mayors, governors and members of congress…
and again will be happy to note that your predecessors have begun
the path of building and restoring our country.
Even Filipinos abroad have found a reason to hope and a way to concretize
their love for the motherland. Many have gone beyond sending resources…
they themselves are coming home to help build the nation of their
dreams… Bicolanos helping Bicol… The Ilonggos helping
Negros and Panay… the Cebuanos helping Cebu… And the Fil-Am
doctors are going beyond the usual medical mission and are building
healthy communities as a way of giving back to a country that they
have never stopped loving.
When you care for others, especially the weak and the powerless,
you will be amazed at how God will take care of you and the people
you love. Today I thank God for my wife and my five children who have
joined
me in this mission to help restore this beautiful land. This is the
best legacy I can give them. I honor my son Jay, who at 22, left his
job and an exciting life of fast cars and beautiful girls in L.A.
to help the typhoon victims of Bicol… and my son-in-law Dylan
Wilk who left his country England, his family and friends, his extravagant
lifestyle - his Ferrari, his Porsche and BMW… in exchange for
the poor families in this country that he has learned to love and
care for.
And of course, the nameless and unrecognized workers and heroes of
other Ateneo initiatives like Pathways, Tulong Dunong, Jesuit Volunteers
of the Philippines, Leaders for Health and other NGOs and cause-oriented
groups who love this county… Today there are tens of thousands
of them… tomorrow there will be millions. Together we will build
a slum-free, squatter-free, crime-free Philippines.
And so in the same spirit of heroism, I urge you young Ateneans to
do the same. After you leave this campus, there is no doubt that you
will soar to great heights but it will all be meaningless if you fly
alone.
The poor do not have strong wings like you do and they need you to
carry them, inspire them to discover their own strength and greatness.
Sana eto ang walang iwanan.
For the parents, as you have invested in the future of your children
by giving them the best education possible… support also your
children’s desire to invest in the future of this country. They
will honor you even more if you value their aspirations for nobility
and their dreams for a better country that will be a source of pride
for them and their children.
As we go through this defining moment of Philippine history, let
us strive never to forget four things:
(1) Never stop hoping for our country.
(2) Don’t stop caring for our people.
(3) Demand greatness of yourself as a Filipino.
(4) Inspire greatness in other Filipinos.
As you leave the campus to join the real world, let your vision and
the power that you have discovered to change the world, define what
is real to you. Make your love for this country and our people, especially
the poor, your reality and your priority. Make it the foundation of
your career plans, your dreams and ambitions for your children and
the goal of any political or economic power that you have the privilege
to wield.
Wherever you are in the world, excel and prosper but remain connected
to the motherland and dedicate your success to the fulfillment not
just of your dreams but to the many in your country who have lost
their capacity to dream.
Do not be content in finding artificial security in gated subdivisions
when you can provide yourself a buffer of peace by caring for the
needy around you. Nor be content with living in first world luxury
in a third world environment and contributing to the discontent and
the growing threats around the security of your own family.
Give value to the land of your birth by sharing with those who for
generations have been deprived of its use and abundance. Be a blessing
to your children’s future by making it your responsibility to
be father or mother to the abandoned and neglected.
Be the healing of the soul of this nation and the fulfillment of
the dream that we have forgotten. Be the proud Filipino that we are
not yet, but soon will be. Be the hero who finds courage and the conviction
that this country is worth saving, because it is a gift fromGod and
that your life is meaningless if it is not dedicated to the fulfillment
of a divine destiny to be a great people.
Let me end this speech and send you off with a prayer.
Dear God, pour out your blessing upon our new graduates. Guide them
in their journey to greatness. Show your power and majesty to this
troubled and sinful nation through these young Filipinos who will
strive to live lives of righteousness and excellence. Make them healers
of our wounded people and restorers of our broken land. Anoint them
as the new generation of living heroes who will bring this country
to our destiny of greatness.
Mabuhay kayong mga bagong bayani ng bayan! Kayo ang bagong lakas
ng pagbabago! Kayo ang magandang mukha ng kinabukasan!
Email your friends to visit: www.FUN8888.com