Speech

Good evening! I am humbled to speak before you to substitute for a presidential candidate who is undergoing a medical treatment abroad. The Honorable Raul ROCO is a man I greatly respect. My wits, accomplishments and experience couldn’t match even a tenth of his. I never expected that I would be given an opportunity to speak before a batch of graduating college students this early in my life. It’s barely a year since I was in your place listening to the nuggets of wisdom from our guest speaker during our commencement exercises at the Ateneo de Manila University.  

What can you learn from a young man like me? I am not John Gokongwei, or Tan Yu, or Henry Sy who came from humble beginnings before becoming this country’s most respected business magnates. I am neither an accomplished businessman nor a renowned academician. I don’t have a long list of professional experience yet. I haven’t been through some of life’s toughest moments that could make me proudly say I’ve made it. No extraordinary accomplishments. No pedestal seat for me. I have none yet.  

My exposures are the same as yours. Most of my concerns are the same as yours. The songs I sing are the same as yours. The places I go to are the same as yours. The things that bring me joy are the same as yours. We’re one and the same.  We’re all still in the stage of dreaming, of aspiring. We’re still chasing our stars.

Twelve months ago, I had mixed emotions while receiving my college diploma. I was both excited and anxious. I was excited to finally leave school, yet I was a little apprehensive about getting a job and becoming independent.   

I knew the facts, and the facts made me doubt my future. Back then, the number of the unemployed was at close to four million and the economy was doing poorly. I was a little disheartened and afraid I probably would get disappointed after graduation. “Is there really a place for me in the job market?” “Can I practice my profession? Or I will be one of those who ended up telemarketing for call centers after hurdling four years of business course?”  “Will I be forced to go abroad to seek employment? Or I will end up in HongKong cleaning toilet bowls, doing laundry, and washing dishes?” “If there are no chances for me abroad, will I get a chance in Star Circle, be a movie hunk instead and dance to the tune of Otso-Otso?” These were some of the worries I had.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you have the same worries too. Nothing has changed much in our environment. Worse, there are scarcer opportunities now in almost all segments of the economy.

I started looking for work days after graduation. Yes, the job market was really tight. I was fortunate to have been given the chance to go through a few exams and interviews. I received some invitations from companies I like but to my disappointment, in jobs I am not interested doing. I managed to find openings for jobs I like but to my disappointment again, in companies I don’t want to work for. Finding a job opening is not easy, and deciding which job to accept that will fit your interests, skills, and long-term career goals is another tough verdict that you have to make.  

Shifting gears from a student to a degree holder is a milestone – but along with it comes greater challenges. We are no longer students. We are educated mature adults expected to be self-sufficient and independent.  Our skills, our attitudes, and our values will be our anchor. Our stamina for life’s disappointments will be put to test.  You may feel burdened with the responsibility of helping your family make a living. You may feel inadequate if you experience failing two or three times in a job screening. You may feel insecure after months of inability to land to a decent job. You may feel disillusioned if the labor market offers jobs way below your capabilities. Our young hearts will be tested in the harsh realities of our time. I want you to anticipate this as much as I did days before my own graduation.

We are disillusioned enough. How many times did we hear great men speak that the Philippines hasn’t moved much forward in the last twenty years? Our per capita income is one of the lowest in Asia, our debt load one of the highest. Our future is at stake. We are bearing the brunt of the mistakes of some of our leaders. What are we to do? Blame the people on top? Blame our country? Blame the color of our skin? Blame our history? The answer is no.

True, we are facing less promising prospects because of some factors beyond our control, factors that are within the control of our leaders. Are we going to move forward if we entertain disappointments? Are we going to move forward if we dwell too long on our grievances? Are we going to move forward if we say that this country is hopeless? No. The only way to move forward and succeed is to stop blaming and start doing what is necessary. Together we can do something great. Let us put our future into our hands, not in the hands of our leaders.  

The best way to predict the future is to create it. We will create it. If our country cannot give the jobs that fit our skills then we will stir the labor market’s need for us. We will start expecting less from our nation. We will begin expecting more from ourselves. After all, we now represent the fullest expression of what has been the national ideal since Jose Rizal – we are the educated Filipino youth. We are, in a very real sense, the hope of our country.

How do we then create our own opportunities? Let us harness our skills to fit the demands of our environment – not just the domestic environment but the global environment. Let’s think global. The world is our marketplace.  Let’s improve our old skills and develop new skill-sets. Let’s expand what we know.  When we’re equipped with the right skills, competencies and attitude, it will be a lot easier and faster to spot opportunities, a lot easier and faster to move ahead. Complacency is one thought we will not entertain, one bad attitude we will not practice. Speed, efficiency, and excellence will be our core work values. Kaizen or continuous improvement will be our battle cry. If we fail, we will try again. Let me borrow the words of Og Mandino, “we will persist until we succeed.” After all, we are already champions. 

Yes, we are all champions! We are the fortunate 18% who have made it to the finish line.  Why fortunate 18%?  On average in the Philippines, out of every one hundred students that started their schooling, only 66 finished grade school. Out of 66, only 44 finished high school. Out of 44, only 18 got a college degree. Not even half or quarter of the original one hundred that began the journey to higher education ever managed to finish college. 

We’ve already made it - time to build on it.

Maximize your potentials. Let me tell you a story I read in the book “Manage your time, Manage your work, Manage yourself” by Merill Douglas. It’s about an eagle’s egg that was put into the nest of a chicken. The eaglet hatched with the bunch of chicks and grew up with them. Thinking he was a chicken, he did what the chickens do. He scratched in the soil for seeds and fed on insects. He flew and expanded his wings and feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that’s how a chicken was supposed to fly! Years passed, the eagle grew old. One day, he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the sky. Hanging on wind currents, the bird soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings. “What a beautiful bird!” said the eagle to his neighbor. “What is it?” “That’s an eagle, the chief of the birds,” the neighbor clucked. “But don’t give it a second thought. You could never be like him.” So the eagle never gave it another thought. He died thinking he was a chicken. 

Some of you may be going through life thinking they are chickens, and thus cannot fly in great heights. By doing so, you are not maximizing your potentials. Explore. Be all the best that you can be. Our time, the age of globalization and information, presents unparalleled opportunities for our generation.  This means, literally, that the sky is our limit. We have the globe as our marketplace. Our only barriers will be our fears.   

As we strive to do our best, let us not forget to do also what is necessary. We will not only extol competence, discipline and hard work. We will be men of integrity and dignity. As the Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “It’s no use saying, you are doing your best. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”  Yes, we will do what is necessary. Alongside better opportunities are greater responsibilities not only for our loved ones but also for our community. We will be men of honor and men of service. We will be men for others.

My dear fellow youth, I am confident that someday we will all see each other on top. Let us seize the day! Congratulations and once again, good evening.