"the" speech

This is a must read for all Pinoys:

Tony Meloto, the visionary and driving force behind the Gawad Kalinga movement, is gifted with a Doctorate of Humanities, Honoris Causa, by the Ateneo de Davao. He then delivers a speech to the graduates of the university, a challenge actually, for patriotism and heroism. The same message will be given to eight other colleges and universities who have asked Tony Meloto to be their commencement speaker for 2007.

"The Filipino Spirit is Rising"
Antonio Meloto
2007 Commencement Exercises
Ateneo de Davao University

Today, I feel intelligent. Not only am I addressing some of the brightest minds in Mindanao, but I am also being honored by this prestigious university with a Doctorate in Humanities, Honoris Causa. This is the first doctorate that I have received and I am accepting it in all humility and pride as a recognition of the nobility of the cause and the heroism of the thousands of Gawad Kalinga workers that I represent. Thank you Fr. Ting Samson and Ateneo de Davao for bestowing the highest academic degree on a man who was born without a pedigree - the "askal" (asong kalye) who went to Ateneo and came back to the slums to help those he left behind.

To a person like myself who did not excel in Ateneo in my pursuit of a college degree, receiving this Ph. D. is extremely flattering being fully conscious that my principal role in this movement is to be the storyteller of the many who put in the sacrifice and the hard work and yet have remained mostly unrecognized. It is also exhilarating because it builds on the growing global awareness, triggered by Gawad Kalinga and other movements that have not given up on our country, that the Filipinos can and will build a squatter-free, slum-free and hunger-free Philippines by committing their collective genius, passion and strength towards restoring the dignity and the potential for excellence of the poor, the weak and the powerless.

The Filipino spirit today is rising wherever he is in the world. He is starting to discover that he has the power to liberate himself from being a slave of the past…that he can remove the label stuck to his soul as a second class people from a third world country…that he can correct the scandal of history of being the most corrupt in Asia despite being the only Christian nation, until East Timor, in the region.

In the right setting the Filipino has proven that he can be law-abiding, hardworking, honest and excellent.

Over the years, I have not met a Filipino beggar in my travel to the US, Canada and Australia…not a single beggar that I have seen or have heard of out of more than 2 million Filipinos in the US; many Caucasians, Afro- Americans and Latinos- yes- but no Filipinos. Clearly, it is not the nature of Filipinos to beg if he is in the right home and community environment. The mendicant culture in his native land is man-made and artificial and can therefore be unmade and corrected if we give him back his dignity which is his birthright as a son of God.

In the same vein, we know that the Filipino is not lazy. Time Magazine in its 2006 article on Happiness identifies the Filipino as one of the ethnic groups in America least likely to go on welfare. How many of us know of friends and relatives who would take on two or even three jobs in pursuit of their dreams for a better life. Hardworking when motivated, resilient when tested - that is the Filipino…that is us. It is no surprise therefore that the average income of the Filipino-Americans is higher that the US national average; the former slave is now richer than the master in his master's home country.

We must believe that we were designed for excellence. World- class Filipino doctors and nurses are healing the sick of America and Europe. Our sailors dominate the seas in every mode of marine transport for commerce and pleasure providing every imaginable form of service - and often always, they are the best navigators, the best chefs, the best entertainers. Thriving economies in Asia carry the mark of Filipino managerial expertise in their start-up stage. Filipino CEOs, CFOs, COOs captain top multinational corporations carrying on the proud expat tradition of SGV's Washington Sycip, PLDT-SMART's Manny Pagnilinan, P&G's Manny Pacis and many others.

Sadly, we are top of the line, crème de la crème, the best of the best elsewhere in the world except in our homeland. While the Jews and the Arabs were busy building abundance out of their desert, we were busy creating a desert out of our abundance.

Let us put a stop to our inanity and hypocrisy. Let us stop cracking jokes about our shame and misery. Instead let us celebrate with our hard work and integrity the return of our honor and pride as a gifted people, blessed by God with this beautiful land. Let us honor every great deed, every sacrifice, and every kindness that we extend to our disadvantaged and needy countrymen.

Let us put an end to our lamentation. We have suffered long enough. For 400 years, we have been gnashing our teeth, blaming one another, stepping on each other and yet have the temerity at the end of the day to ask God why this is happening as if it was His fault. It is now time to hope, to care, to work together and to rejoice.

Yes, we will rise as a nation if we nurture this emerging beautiful spirit of the Filipino and cultivate an intelligent heart. How? When we show our love for God by being our brother's keeper - giving land to the landless, homes to the homeless and food to the hungry. This is about love and justice in a country where the majority of our people are landless, millions of them living in shanties and slums and 17% of them experiencing hunger in a rich and fertile land. This is not about charity but about authentic Christian stewardship and nation-building.

We will rise as a nation when rich Filipinos will consider the poor as an heir, like our youngest child, equal in worth and dignity with our own children, deserving an equal share in our children's inheritance. A beautiful spirit and an intelligent heart consider the poor as family, see the face of Christ in them, and see the paradise that every slum community can become. That is why every GK home is beautifully painted and the standard of landscaping of every GK village is Ayala Alabang or Ladislawa in the case of Davao.

When we build first world communities for the poorest Filipino, we give them dignity and first world aspirations that will motivate them to dream bigger and work harder with support and nurturing. A recent study of GK Brookside, Payatas conducted by the UP Diliman College of Economics revealed an amazing result – the confidence and self-respect of the residents, many of them former scavengers, rose from 17% before GK to 99% after GK; 93% consider themselves better off in terms of quality of life and 96% believe that their economic situation will improve in the future. Clearly the spirit of the poor is rising because those with the most share their best with the least.

This nation will rise if her sons and daughters abroad will see wisdom in helping not just their relatives, which is an admirable Filipino trait, but also the poor they do not know who need help the most.

Last night, I arrived from a 1-week trip to the U.S. for the world premiere in Chicago of "Paraiso", the Gawad Kalinga movie, and to attend GK events in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The movie was a big hit but the bigger hit for me was the phenomenal response of our patriots in America to help the motherland by building self-reliant and sustainable GK communities. The UST Medical Alumni Association of America Board was planning not just building more houses but also hospitals and community health programs through Gawad Kalusugan. USTMAA president Dr. Primo Andres is building a beautiful GK Village for his wife, Sylvia in Panabo, Davao where she comes from as an expression of his deep affection for her. Another Davaoeno, former Cabinet Secretary Cito Lorenzo, joined me in booming Las Vegas to honor Filipino entertainers and realtors who are investing in the rebuilding of their home country.

Passion for the Philippines was evident everywhere I went. From successful young San Diego businessman Tony Olaes who spoke about sleepless nights in his excitement to help fund 20 new GK villages with his Filipino business partners to the SouthCal Ancop Sikad Bikers pedaling to build Sibol Schools and the Bayanihan Builders who are retired professionals in Los Angeles repairing homes of neighbors to raise resources to build homes in Bicol, to the 8 nurses in NorCal working extra shifts to fund their individual GK villages. The Filipino exile is waking up and starting to unleash a stream of Patriot Funds that will augment the OFW flow in fuelling the Philippine economy.

Today, I am here to salute the beautiful spirit and the intelligent heart of the people of Mindanao. Many of our volunteers here, like many in other parts of the country, build homes for the poor when they themselves do not own land or home. Christians here starting with caretakers from Couples for Christ set aside fear and comfort to serve our fellow Filipinos in Camp Abubakar and other Muslim GK communities. Your students are going out of the classrooms to learn about life and love of God and country by serving in poor communities. The LGU of Davao led by Mayor Duterte and many throughout Mindanao are doing massive land banking in solidarity with our conviction that no Filipino deserves to be a squatter in his own country. And many families here are starting to understand that giving a part of their land to give dignity and security to the landless and homeless poor is not only right with God but also builds peace, triggers economic activity, improves land values - creates a win-win situation for all.

And to you my dear graduates, what can I say? Congratulations of course for finishing what you began and for joining the ranks of the elite few of the Filipinos with a college degree. I thank your parents for their sacrifice and for giving us sons and daughters who will steward this country better than us.

You are entering adult life equipped with a degree from a respected university at an auspicious time in the life of our country. It is your destiny to reach maturity during this great season of hope, this exciting time of awakening, this period of great challenge and heroism.

You have the choice and the opportunity to correct the mistakes of our generation and build a future full of hope in this country. You can be the new breed of political leaders who will gain your mandate through visible and quantifiable performance, rather than mastery of the art of winning elections through cheating and corruption. You can be the new captains of business and industry who will work for profit with a conscience, expanding the market base by wisely investing in developing the potential of the poor for productivity. You can be the new elite of this country who will not be happy to send your children to exclusive schools and live in exclusive subdivisions if out of school street children are ignored and Lazarus continues to live as a squatter outside your gates.

Who can stop us from claiming our Promised Land? Spain is not our master anymore. America is not our master anymore. Japan is not our master anymore. Our enemies are not the corrupt politicians, the greedy rich, the lazy poor, the religious hypocrites and other convenient scapegoats. Our enemies are not out there anymore. Our enemies are now within us.

We have compromised our values and tolerated corruption. We have lowered our standard and tolerated poverty. We have sacrificed the truth for hypocrisy. We have chosen convenience for vision, popularity for leadership…and have chosen despair over hope.

Do we fight or do we run? Is there a King Leonides among you who will fight for honor and freedom? Are there 300 Spartans among you who will confront our enemies with extraordinary courage and love? Can you be the army who will lead our people to victory following the path of peace? Are you the generation of patriots who can shout to the world that no Filipino will remain poor because you will not allow it; that no Filipino will remain a squatter because you will not allow it; that no politician will remain corrupt because you will not allow it?

If you are, then join us in Gawad Kalinga. Together, we can build a great nation, first world in the eyes of God and respected by other great nations.

Godspeed to you our patriots and heroes. God bless our beloved Philippines.

You take me back

sometimes i think it's funny... when everybody thinks i'm perfectly okay. hmm.. i look okay, that is. you smile at me, i smile back. you ask for help, i give you a hand. but if you could really see my soul, i feel like i'm not myself lately.

our days are made up of experiences which, most of the time, are found at the extremes. there were moments when i could shout at the top of my lungs that "i'm the queen of the world!" [eh?] but just the same, there are episodes in my life when after giving all of me [or so i thought] to something or someone, i still fall short.

you see, i can accept failure - whether it concerns my family, friends [close ones, usually], events, and even myself. everyone fails at something...at some point in our lives. it's like having a patient heart, an allowance to give each person, as a work in progress just like me.

and i owe it to You. You are that Person who truly cares for me...Someone who sees the pain in my eyes while everyone else still believes in the smile painted on my face. You always take me back. Always. You look beyond my failures and shortcomings. You always had that open arms to welcome me, to embrace me, to lift me up again. and for that, there's one thing i can't accept - not trying...to stand up one more time. always one more time. to show the world that though i fail, You never fail.

Take You Back
Jeremy Camp

The reason why I stand
The answer lies in you
You hung to make me strong
Though my praise was few
When I fall and bring your name down

But I have found in you
A heart that pleads forgiveness
Replacing all these thoughts
Of painful memories
But I know
That your response will always be

*I'll take you back always
And even when your fight is over now
Even when your fight is over now
I'll take you back always
And even when the pain is coming through
Even when the pain is coming through
I'll take you back

You satisfy this cry
Of what I'm looking for
And I take all I can
And lay it down
Before the throne of endless grace, now
That radiates what's true

I'm in the only place
That erases all these faults
That have overtaken me
But I know
That your response will always be

I can only speak
With a grateful heart
As I'm pierced by this gift
Of your love

I will always bring an offering
I can never thank you enough

You'll take me back always
And even when my fight is over now
Even when my fight is over now
You'll take me back always
And even when my pain is coming through
Even when my pain is coming through
You'll take me back always

You'll take me back

life..oh life..

Do you know the song I Will Be Here? Well, it was popularized by the gifted Gary Valenciano. I love that song. ;p Unknown to many, the song was orginally composed and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman. He wrote it for his wife on their wedding day. Sweet. Well, he's a Christian who, like Gary V. allows the hand of God to move his life and use his gift of music to get the message of God's love across. Here's one song by Chapman about life. I first heard it at the Nyt Life, a Friday gig at our church. Cool noh? Anyways, read on and I'm sure you will also come to realize that indeed, to be alive is not the same as to simply exist.

More To This LIfe
Today I watched in silence as people pass me by
And I strain to see if there was something hidden in their eyes
But they all looked back at me as if to say, "Life just goes on"

The old familiar story told in different ways
Make the most of your own journey from the cradle to the grave
Dream your dreams tomorrow because today, life must goes on

*But there's more to this life than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see
That there's more than this life alone can be

Tonight he lies in silence staring into space
And he looks for ways to make tomorrow better than today
But in the morning light it looks the same, life just goes on

He takes care of his family, he takes care of his work
And every Sunday morning he takes his place at the church
But somehow he still feels the need to search, but life just goes on

**So where do we start to find every part
Of what makes this life complete?
If we turn our eyes to Jesus we'll find
That life's true beginning
Was there at the cross where He died...

Jesus died...to bring us more to this life than living and dying

More than just trying to make it through the day

More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see

That there's more than this life alone can be

joyful? joyful!

nung Saturday pumunta akong school. may get-together kasi kaming mga senior scholars at yung mga benefactors namin. nakaka-excite. sabi nga ni ma'am jolly, "we will finally match the names with their faces." sa nakalipas na apat na taon kasi, nagbibigay lang kami ng Christmas card sa kanila. sa wakas, magkakaharap na ang pinagpala at ang nagpapala.

kaya lang syempre, bago pa mag-umpisa yung program proper, nagkaroon muna ng mass. and, matagal-tagal na rin nug huli akong umatend ng catholic mass. anyway, ang galing pa kasi yung homily ni Fr. Roche, yun din yung message na binigay ko sa mga bata nugn Wednesday, at yun din yung na-share ni Ate Lu sa Lcell namin nung Thursday. si Lord talaga, pinupukpok ako. hehe...

sabi nga ng kanta, "forgetting what lies behind, setting our hearts on the prize, always keeping our eyes on our Lord Jesus...we're running the race to win, all the way to the end, laying down every sin that would seem to hinder us."

tapos nung responsorial psalm na, hindi ko maintindihan. ibig ko sabihin, gets ko naman yung psalm na binasa, pati yung response ng congregation, saying na we are filled with joy because God is with us, or something to that effect. basta declaration yun of joy. ang mahirap kasi sagutin, eh kung bakit parang di ko makita yung joy sa mga tao sa paligid ko. sa loob-loob ko, ang sarap tumalon, sumayaw, tumawa, at ipagsigawan yung saya na nararamdaman ko. na sa kabila ng lahat, buhay pa rin ako at pinaparamdam pa rin ni Lord na mahal Niya ako. grabe. andami pang kailangang baguhin sa ugali ko. pero hindi Niya talaga ako pinabayaan. at sa sobrang pagmamahal Niya sa'kin, pagtitiyagaan Niya akong baguhin at hubugin para maging katulad Niya. wow.

kung alam lang nila...:)

thoughts on happYness

Here are a few things I can't help but share, from the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. I actually got bored the first time I saw it :( But I gave it another shot and got pretty good insights from the father and son tandem Will and Jaden Smith.

Christopher (Jaden) cracks a joke to his father Chris (Will) while walking...
"One day a man was drowning in the water. A boat came by and said, 'Do you need any help?' He said, 'No thank you. God will save me.' Then another boat came by and said, 'Do you need any help?' He said, 'No thank you. God will save me.' Then he drowned and went to heaven. And he said, 'God, why didn't You save me?' And God said, 'I sent you two big boats you dummy.'"

Haha! Imagine God saying that last line. Hmmm... I can't. But maybe I can. For if I were in His shoes, and billions of my creation ask me the same question, I might have reacted that same way. Or even worse. The young kid hit it big time.

Doesn't the anecdote seem familiar? How many times have we asked God that question? How many times did we think He has abandoned us? How many times have we doubted His unstoppable power and unending grace?

Why didn't You save me from this heartbreak? I thought You didn't want me to get hurt.
Why didn't You save me from this loneliness? I thought You were always beside me.
Why didn't You save my parents' marriage? I thought You wanted my family to be complete.
Why didn't You save me from "friends" that talk behind my back? I thought You want me to be celebrated.
Why didn't You save me from this corrupted country? I thought this was Your promised land flowing with milk and honey.
Why didn't You save me from failures? I thought You created me to be more than a conqueror.

But you see, everything I (we) thought about who He is and what He can do are barely scratches. He's all that and more. The only difference is, He already did all the saving I've been raving about. He saved me before I even asked for it. He will save me even before I get ourselves in situations of need. He saves me even if I think I don't need it. Amazing.

I put all the blame on Him when I feel like I'm in dark pits of humiliation and hurt. I even used the idea that everything is in His hands, as an excuse that I had nothing to do about where I got myself into. It was His fault. I trusted Him and look where that faith has led me. Blind faith, that is. And I end up incomplete, unsatisfied. Unhappy.

Sure, there really are times when God, His very voice speaks so clearly to me, and directs my next move. But now I wonder what the people around me are here for? The places I go to, the family I belong to, the school I went to, the workplace you spend 8 hours with, the books we read, the songs we sing, the movies we watch... You see, everything we see, hear, and feel were created for something. God would use them to answer our needs and even our wants. It's just that most of the time, I have ignored them and made myself believe that I'm doing well on my own...that I can make it through, survive each day without allowing the Chief Doctor to operate and transplant a new heart and spirit within me, instead of ignoring the aches I have been keeping for so long.

It's a different kind of high to be the damsel in distress once in a while...waiting for the Knight of all knights to overcome the dragons in my life and rescue me from the highest tower.

I'm letting go and letting You God do your thing.
You'll definitely see me through.