I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be invited as your commencement speaker today, I am truly humbled and touched; I have asked mama several times if the invitation was all her idea or if the suggestion came from her because I truly felt unfit and unworthy of this privilege. And when she assured me that it was the faculty that wanted me to be here, I felt excted to the prospect of seeing the friendly and reassuring smiles from my former teachers who shaped me as a person.
If success is equated with money, I am a failure. I don’t have money kept in bank and to this day, even with the fancy title as an assistant principal, I only receive a meager salary. I was surprised when mama texted me two days ago, telling me that she will personally give me 1000 pesos as token for my presence today. I don’t know if it was a joke, but I’m saying it now so she won’t forget that she owes me a thousand pesos for this message. I know it was her mother’s instinct telling her, that I haven’t received my pay yet and I might want a couple of beer for myself later. My point is, if you’re idea of a successful person is someone who is rich and wealthy, then I am not the commencement speaker that you would want to be here.
If success is equated with age and experience, then I am a disappointment. I am still young and although I look older than my age, I am only 26 with a heart of sixteen years old. I still haven’t experienced the best this life can offer.
I believe that our success can only be measured by people, who would be looking at us when we are inside our coffin, lifeless; when we are already at the end of our journey. So if you will ask me if am I successful right now, my answer is no. But if you’ll ask me the question: am I going to be successful, I can confidently answer, Yes I will be. I know that where I am right now is exactly where I wanted myself to be that would lead me to my dreams; so that when I die, and my body rests in that coffin, people would say that I was a successful person.
I hope that my presence here as your commencement speaker is not a grave mistake, for I have nothing to boast of, or brag about other than the beauty that I have inherited from my mother… From the bottom of my heart, thank you for bringing me back in this small town which I haven’t visited for 4 years.
Your graduation theme this year is “ Hindi Natitinag ang Pusong Pilipino “which pays tribute to the resilience of the Filipino spirit and the bravery of the Filipino soul. Allow me to give life and meaning to these lofty words by sharing to you my own story.
Looking at you my dear graduates, reminds me of my younger years here in Loreto. The occasional trips to Ilo-an and Jandayugong with my friends and classmates without asking permission from our parents; the ferry boat rides, the muddy rice fields, the scent of ‘marang’ in Maputing are some of the memories I would never forget; those were the days of pure fun- the joy of the simple life here in Loreto.
It was also in this town where I experienced the darkest days of my life when my family was tested by fate. The story of my family is an open book; you may be very young back then but I’m sure you have heard of it and your parents, most are our family friends, know the details. My father was imprisoned, our house had to be sold, and we moved and bought this humble house in Sanfranz. Our family really struggled financially aside from that uncomfortable feeling and emotional trauma that we had to go through for being in that situation.
I was then a high school student and it was really tough coping up with something I never thought would happen. I had plenty of questions running in my head: What will my friends say? Why do we have to sell the house? Why do we have to move to sanfranz? What will happen to our family? It was only recently when I confided to my mother that I had nightmares back then. There were nights when I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid and I feared of our safety.
For someone so young and confused with the whole thing, it was distressing to the point embarrassing when some random people would ask me: Kamusta naman imong amahan? Asa naman mo nagpuyo ron? Kanus a man sya makagawas? How could I ever answer those questions? I was only a high school student.
