A VOICE FROM AMERICA
By Ernie D. Delfin
‘BE THE LOTUS FLOWERS’ CHALLENGE POSED
TO COLLEGE STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS
IN THE PHILIPPINES
One of the highlights
of my recent visit in the homeland was my speaking and interacting with college
students in their own campuses. Through our
Katipunan-USA’s partial eclipsing
alliance with Ateneo’ s Pathways, I met Pathway’s co-founder Harvey Keh, and its Executive Director Nikki Viquiera, who together with our PTAG leader and Rotarian Litay Ferrera Brunner in Manila arranged a memorable
dinner meeting with two dozen Pathways
college scholars at Max Restaurant across the Ateneo in Loyola Heights. Fellow Rotarians like Rosario Yu Edwin
Ferrera and Isabelita Rivera also joined us in this
dinner meeting where I spoke and challenged these future leaders. Because of this event, I was invited again to
speak before a much larger audience of about 200 student
leaders and scholars coming from different universities at the Ateneo de Manila
during their monthly gathering last
February 12th. That was also
an exhilarating experience as the hour given to me to speak and interact with the students almost doubled!
I felt that
not only did the students learned from my life-long experiences from my working
student years in Letran 3 decades ago to the many tough and trying
years in America, but also motivated and inspired them to persevere
to work
harder to reach their dreams for a better tomorrow. I challenged these young men and women to become like the lotus plants that continue to thrive in the
pond amidst the pollution, impurities and toxins in their environment. The lotus plants blessed with
abundant sunlight always bring out their white flowers in Spring! As the lotus plant beautifies its environment, it also purifies even the polluted waters beneath it. Quoting Eleanor Roosevelt, I reminded these future leaders of the country that “the future belongs to
those who believe in the beauty of their dreams~”
The open forum that followed my speech at the Ateneo
Symposium was both a surprise and educational experience for a balikbayan like. From the
students’ comments and questions, I also sensed the students’ intense frustrations about their own country as it is not
progressing the way it should be especially in the socio political and economic
arena. Most of these students were not
even born during the Martial Law years
of the late Dictator Marcos and therefore
they did not witness People Power that ousted Dictator
Marcos and his family. However, as they
now live in the Information Society, hence they are also aware of the standing of
the Philippines
Although the symposium was held in
Ateneo, I learned that many of the
students came from other less expensive universities and many were also working students. Many comments
and questions were about globalization and about the country’s socio economic and political conditions
of the country. One
was even bold enough to ask how he too
can immigrate and work abroad like the 8 million of us Overseas Filipinos to
help his parents improve their economic life.
The idealism of the youth was evident as I reminisced
the way we were when we were their age. A few
students with some degree of subtlety were even accusatory that all the mess in the
country was done by the greedy politicians and
leaders without regard to the general welfare
of the people. The time invested in these two speaking
engagements was well worth it and I think I will do it again next year. One comment that was quite especial for me
was an impromptu impassioned remarks from a lady scholar from the University of the
Philippines that she was moved by the analogy of the youth, her generation, to becoming the lotus flowers of the
country. To that lady and her generation: “My ardent prayers are with you as
you begin to chart the course of
the country in decades to come. Whatever you do now is the beginning of what you can do next. The
power of your generation’s
collective intentions will manifest itself and such an event will come when its time has come. It’s like the instantaneous and miraculous convergence of millions of
people at EDSA in People Power in 1986.
One idea, one person causing another person to do something concrete
until the inevitable just unfold itself to the awe and respect of the
world. As some of us in my generation try to make amends and genuinely try to help clean up
the mess that your older generation has caused unto the country, (forgive us, your elders for what our generation has done to the
country that we will leave you!) we ask you to really help us by NOT giving
up in your country. I still believe in my heart that
the Philippines
I believe I had
left these students some pounds of
inspiration that one person can indeed make a difference in somebody’s life.
To the scholars present at the dinner,
I gave each one of them a copy of
an inspirational autobiographical book of a Filipino woman engineer from the
squatters of Metro Manila while she was going to Mapua and became the first
woman immigrant to become a licensed civil engineer in the state of New
Mexico. The title of the book is “DON’T EVER TELL ME YOU CAN’T” and the author is my friend Celia Ruiz
Tomlinson. A note to Celia and to my surprise, although
I was not the author, everyone asked me
to sign her book which I did with my “Best Wishes” to these
working student scholars of Pathways to Higher Learning which our own
Progressive Times Action Group (PTAG) is now supporting.
--------------
The week-long visit to Mindanao, particularly my
stay at the Notre Dame Marbel University
in Koronadal City
One afternoon,
I was also made a special guest speaker to about 200 working students of the
University as arranged by our PTAG Cell leader in Koronadal, Jing Ureta, the HR Director of NDMU. Meeting that many working students and still
maintaining very good grades reminded me of my college years made me nostalgic
and happy. I believe that working students become more successful in their lives by paying the
price of success in full and
upfront, while surrounding themselves
with many good people like the Marist
Brothers, professors and employees of
the NDMU and reading as many good books
they can, than many “professionals” students especially those with their personal yayas or katulongs or family drivers who
bring these rich kids to school when they when they were young.
Being a working student was never fun especially if you were surrounded by
many friends or classmates who come from wealthy families. You have to create some kind of internal defense mechanism to compensate
for the things that you do not possess
to have a healthy balance, so that you do not hate the rich because you are
poor. I have been fortunate that I never
really never reviled my wealthy
classmates because as they were always good to me. I guess it was some degree of “mutual exploitation” : they copied most of my work and received
satisfactory grades and in return
they did compensate me for other “things” coming from the “excesses” from their own
homes! I am just happy now that those
are all past tense!
By the way, to our
STAR readers let me also share one of my favorite essays authored by Marianne Williamson that was made popular
by Nelson Mandela when he included it in his inauguration speech as president
of South Africa
EMPOWERING
THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY
OUR
DEEPEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE;
OUR
DEEPEST FEAR IS THAT WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND
MEASURE.
IT IS
OUR LIGHT, NOT OUR DARKNESS, THAT MOST
FRIGHTENS US.
WE
ASK OURSELVES, WHO AM I TO BE BRILLIANT,
GORGEOUS, TALENTED AND FABULOUS?
ACTUALLY,
WHO ARE YOU NOT TO BE?
YOU’RE
A CHILD OF GOD --- YOUR PLAYING SMALL DOESN’T
SERVE THE WORLD.
THERE’S NOTHING ENLIGHTENED ABOUT SHRINKING SO
THAT OTHERS
WON’T FEEL INSECURE AROUND YOU.
WE
ARE BORN TO MANIFEST THE GLORY OF GOD THAT IS
WITHIN US.
IT’S
NOT JUST IN SOME OF US; IT’S IN EVERYONE!
AND,
AS WE LET OUR OWN CANDLE SHINE, WE CONS-
CIOUSLY
GIVE OTHERS PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME.
AS WE
ARE LIBERATED FROM OUR OWN FEAR,
OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY LIBERATES
OTHERS.
--------------
Meeting the newest Filipino Cardinal,
(then an archbishop) the Most Reverend
Gaudencio Rosales, originally from Batangas,
on Feb l8th for a breakfast in
his official residence near the Manila Cathedral was a
especial treat, courtesy of another PTAG leader Lou Arsenio of Caritas Manila
and Monsignor Teston of the Our Lady of the
Airways Parish and Fr. Benito Tuason.
I was humbled and somewhat emotional
by the simple thought of meeting a holy man, without even any prior arrangements with his
Eminence, happening on the very last day
of a very hectic three weeks schedule around
the country. If there is no Awesome God that guides the destinies of men and
nation, who is? Times like these, I always
remember as I often re-read the best short book of wisdom
ever written called Ecclesiastes:
“There is an appointed time for
everything, and a time for every affair
under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to
die; a time to plant, and a time to
uproot the plant.
A Time to kill, and a time to
heal; a time to tear down , and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to
laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to
dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a
time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to
be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a
time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to
sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to
hate; a time for war, and a time of peace!”
------------------
Over
breakfast, I learned many things I
never knew happening like his PONDO NG PINOY, an empowering program on savings designed
for the masa, just a few pesos a week but multiplied million times, decades long advocacy for the environment,
ecology and his pro-active opposition against illegal logging since he was assigned
as bishop in Bukidnon. Learning from
our own PTAG’s Lou Arsenio of the Ecology Desk of Caritas what the
Archdiocese and the entire church is
doing without much fanfare and publicity in really helping the poorest of the
poor with the full support of the newest Cardinal of the Philippines, I feel
very optimistic that there will be dramatic changes in the next decade as the
Filipino people get tired just talking,
ranting and raving of EDSA demonstrations and shallow talks of selfish
politicians and wannabe leaders. I am
glad that I have met many Filipinos in
the private sisters like the Rotarians, Couples for Christ, Gawad Kalinga
volunteers and many others who are not members of NATO (No Action Talk Only). These unsung often not recognized people are
the real “modern day” heroes that must be written up from time to time to
inspire others to pitch it.
My dreams for my
country are bigger than myself, but with many people believing in the same
things as I do, I believe that something
BIG can happen, like our EcoPark and Station of the Cross Village project, that
Monsignor Teston of the Our Lady of the Airways Parish and Cardinal
Rosales have fully supported. I have faith that an idea whose time has
come will happen in HIS time. Man simply proposes and our awesome GOD disposes.
Lastly, may I
invite our STAR readers to pause and
thank God for his continued love, mercy
and love for the Philippines
Mabuhay ang
Pilipinas and our kababayans wherever they are!
----- 3 0 ----
-Email writer: ernie.delfin@gmail.com or
drbannatiran@yahoo.com
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