This week’s column title borrows the theme of the 125th commemoration of the country’s Independence Day.
Let me reprise some highlights of the keynote speech I delivered exactly 10 years ago as Dumaguete City held its celebration. Inviting me to speak at that time was then City Mayor Manuel “Chiquiting” T. Sagarbarria through the Tourism Officer then, Mr. Woodrow “RR” Maquiling Jr.
Fast forward today, it feels surreal that I have once again been invited this time to host the first Independence Day of Negros Oriental with newly installed Gov. Manuel “Chaco” L. Sagarbarria as keynote speaker. And, inviting me is the newly appointed Executive Director of the Provincial Tourism Board and chairman of the Negros Oriental Tourism Council RR Maquiling. Events have taken full circle and we remain in the service of God, country, and humanity.
It has been said that in a great university, one encounters the mind and conscience of a nation. We are privileged, therefore, that our beloved City of Dumaguete is known by its monicker, “university town” or “university city” because of the presence of at least four highly reputable universities of great renown, as well as a motley of other educational institutions.
We are glad to note that even as we, as individuals, are constantly on a pilgrimage and a quest for life’s meaning here on earth, the Filipinos’ search for a national identity has now been entrenched in the numerous accomplishments of our countrymen here and abroad – a testimony, indeed, of the Filipinos’ resilience amid difficulties and the capacity to rise above life’s challenges.
Despite our being a “small nation,” certainly no one can label us as a “weak people.” Our human worth as a people resonates collectively all over the world and surpasses individual weaknesses.
At no time in the history of mankind have people of all nations and races, including the Filipinos, shared a common destiny. And, this has come about because of the tremendous powers released by human intelligence.
Former US President John F. Kennedy once said that the problems of a nation, being human, can be solved by human beings whose intellectual and moral faculties are equal to the task. For this reason, universities and higher education institutions find themselves taking a great deal of the responsibility. Theirs is the task of training and producing the human beings – generally comprising the youths of today – who will, in the long run, become our future leaders, the movers and shakers of our destiny as a city, as a province, and as a nation.
A common lament today is that the essence of youth seems to be wasted on the young. What does this imply and what does this seem to make out of our youth? The formidable presence of the youth was felt in our most recent electoral exercise just a month ago where many of our young people were first-time voters. Under modern social pressures, adults can only offer guidance to our youth. We could no longer restrain the mind and conscience of our youth from dramatically asserting themselves.
The youth in positions of leadership, whether in politics or business or in other fields of endeavor, is increasing by the hour. They are placed there partly with the vision of the older generation, but largely because of the strength of their contemporaries. We of this generation must prepare a place for them to make a difference.
To emphasize the magnitude of this responsibility, I can do no better than quote for you the great soliloquy placed on the lips of a religious man by our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. The soliloquy is a noble call to the youth of the land, and may even be applicable to the youth all over the world – and, it goes this way:
“Where are the youth who will dedicate their innocence, their idealism, their enthusiasm to the good of the motherland? Where are they who will give generously of their blood to wash away so much shame, crime, and abomination? Pure and immaculate must the victim be for the sacrifice to be worthy. Where are you, young men and young women, who are to embody in yourselves the lifeforce that has been drained from your veins, the pure ideals that have grown stained in our minds, the fiery enthusiasm that has been quenched in our hearts? We await you, come for we await you, we await you!”
These words were written in the gloom that preceded the Philippine Revolution of 1896. These words were soon heeded, as can be seen in our country’s history. – NWI
