The Eagle Will Not Fly Without the Poor

"The Eagle Will Not Fly Without the Poor"
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 streetchildren 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 from God 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!


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