Seeing a glimpse of our future leaders!

I spent the entire morning at the Grand Convention Center waiting for the 20th Baccalaureate graduation ceremonies of the Child Development Center of CIE, where Prof. Nelia Cruz-Sarcol gave recognition to their young graduates, including my grandson Miguel Enrico "Mikili" Avila Tequillo, who bagged top honors in Kinder 1. While he is only five years old, at least my grandson has done his best among his classmates who are just as smart as he is. I submit the next generation is always better than the present!

While my grandson has a long way to go in his education, watching those kids during the graduation ceremonies got me into thinking that if only all our teachers in public schools gave their hearts and minds, blood, sweat and tears in the education of our youth the way Teacher Nelia does to her students in CIE, then you can say that we would be on our way to rid this country of the vicious cycle of poverty.

The other thing that put me in deep thought is that here I was, watching the next generation of Cebuanos who will certainly run things in Cebu when we already give up our ghost. Indeed, inside the Grandcon I saw a glimpse of the future Cebuanos, which I can say is oozing with hope. However, there is nothing much I can say for the real life in the outside world, a world plagued with graft and corruption and all other evil stuff.

Call it providential that CIE's inspirational speaker came in the person of Mr. Dylan Wilk, Head of the International Partnerships of Gawad Kalinga, who was escorted by our good friend Mr. Jeruel Roa CIE Human Resources Manager. I have heard so much about Mr. Wilk, that young English millionaire who gave up his millions (though he was born from a poor family) just to come to the Philippines and build houses for the poor folk.

Since I just arrived from my trip to the US, I was looking for a good topic for my TV show and my prayers were answered when I met Mr. Wilk who will return to Cebu in a couple of weeks for the tv interview in Straight from the Sky. The Philippines is known as one of the most corrupt countries in the world and one of the poorest because of our slums and squatter colonies. But what I saw during the CIE ceremonies yesterday was a vision of a better Philippines and a better Cebu. Where we hope that when Mr. Wilk will get old and gray, his group through the Gawad Kalinga would have totally erased our memories of squatter colonies and in its place, decent dwellings for our people.

I have the same hope for the children who graduated in CIE that someday they too would be socially conscious of the poor people within our midst and do what needs to be done about this problem.

Still on my hopes for a better future. Last March 25th, (a couple of Sundays ago) was the graduation of my son Jesus Valeriano "JV" Avila at the Sacred Heart School. Unfortunately I was unable to attend this joyous occasion as I was still in the US. Thankfully, the guest speaker for their graduation ceremonies was our good friend Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. Chairman Mr. Roberto "Bobby" Aboitiz who gladly emailed me a copy of his speech. So allow me to reprint the spirit of his message to the future leaders of Cebu, who are now gearing up for a college education.

Here's what Bobby Aboitiz told the high school graduates. "Success is a result, not an accident! You have to believe in yourself, believe that you have what it takes, in abilities, heart and determination. It is time to build character. You will need to take full responsibility for your future and sign a contract with yourself to build it. Think of the options before you and always remember the values you have internalized from your Jesuit education at Sacred Heart.

Magis... that driving force within each of us to strive for excellence, to strive to be more, to become a better person and accomplished professional. A personal mission to be the best at what we do. Then there is the Ignatian principle: Man for others… that noble conviction of being "other-person" oriented. This philosophy displaces selfishness, greed and focus on the material. It develops empathy, concern and responsibility for our fellowman. Take these two Ignatian principles with you through life... they will serve you well in your journeys... they will turn you into a leader in the community and help build a better country."

How I wish that Bobby Aboitiz were addressing our politicians who are now fighting tooth and nail for their own Holy Grail, a seat of power! But under what kind of values or principles are today's crop of politicians running for? No doubt, what I saw yesterday was a vision of a better tomorrow, however I must contend with the ugliness of our present failed system, where politicians are running for the most illogical of reasons. I can only say that someday, Filipinos will see a better tomorrow... someday.