Was it the national hero Dr. Jose Rizal and other leaders in the past who had fondly predicted that "the youth is the future hope of the nation"? Had the country’s brightest of the bright fulfilled their full potentials in terms of leading the Philippines towards wide-ranging societal reforms, economic dynamism, social justice and the promise of genuine democracy?
Jimenez – the youngest ever commencement speaker at UP and now actively involved with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PCCI) initiatives to lobby a reform agenda for the new president after the May election – said that one of the objectives of the reunion was to encourage more socio-civic involvement. The TOYM awardees’ grand reunion was a remarkable gathering of the Philippines who’s who of the past 50 years in business, politics, medicine, entertainment, science, mass media, arts and other fields.
At the start of the dinner reunion, investment banker and former TOYM awardee Enrique G. Filamor delivered a speech which surprisingly sounded like a clarion call for the country’s intellectual, social, political and economic elite to be activists for change and positive thinking.
Here is an excerpt from his speech:
"We are especially proud of the TOYM awardees who continue to excel in our chosen field of enterprise. Not that there have been no setbacks in our careers. However, what sets the awardees apart is our resiliency and our ability to recover from adversity.
"Nowhere is this resiliency and mental toughness more important than today. Our nation needs the combined expertise of every person in this room, every professional in society, every citizen of this country. Our economic situation is bleak. Debt payment comprised 46 percent of our annual government budget in 2003.
"Total foreign debt is 115 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and is close to Argentina’s 120 percent of GDP. We survive only on the skills of our financial managers in stretching debt payments. Together, we must salvage the country’s economic integrity. This means we have to reexamine the way we do things, work harder and do better.
"Having said this, I would like to cite the practices of Philippine companies that have successfully made a turnaround in these difficult times.
"The first practice is the mentality of moving forward. It is more productive to solve the sins of the past than to investigate the sins of the past. It is very comforting to fix blame and demand retribution. Investigations cost time, money and are divisive of organizations. Let us look to the economic recovery of the New Deal that lifted the United States from the Great Depression, not to the Spanish Inquisition or the witchhunt of the McCarthy era.
"The second practice is to look at our population of 82 million as the engine of growth. Successful companies who have tapped the D and E market have showed continuous earnings growth. The list includes San Miguel, Fortune Tobacco, Tanduay and, more recently, Smart with its Pasa-Load. Like politics, market share is a policy of addition not elitism. Our population can be our greatest asset. Let’s move forward by thinking about what we can offer to everyone, not a chosen few.
"In closing, I would like to leave you with the following thoughts – let us move forward, not look to the rear. Let us include everybody in our plans."
"The TOYM Awards was conceived in this spirit – to inspire young men to strive for excellence in achievement, aspire for noble goals with nobility of spirit, be trailblazers in all fields of human endeavor, and claim their birthright to lead our nation to its rightful place in the family of nations."
What had gone wrong? How come the Philippines is a nation blessed with so much human talent, creativity, rich natural resources, vast arable lands and the favorable tropical climate, yet the country seems in perpetual crisis? Where have past generations of the country’s most well-educated, privileged and driven young achievers devoted their abundant talents and energies, and what had been the collective impact of all their efforts or lack of it on the present woeful state of the nation?
Once in a meeting with a former young achiever who has since risen in a phenomenal way in national success, this writer remarked that the Philippines needs an inspirational and selfless leader like Joan of Arc who had once saved France at her hour of worst peril. This achiever responded by saying that no way would that be a viable option, because Joan of Arc ended up being burned at the stake! Is there truly a dearth of young men and women in our society who are willing to sacrifice self – whether economically, emotionally, even physically – in order to uphold what is good, just, true and noble?
Is it possible that the eternal tragedy of the Philippines since the dawn of history is that the best and the brightest of our youths in the past were excellent in their individual selves, in advancing their own self-interests or family welfares, but had miserably failed or had forgotten to serve the common good and the national welfare?