Let me extend my sincere appreciation to my good friend your OIC President Dr. Benny Palma for inviting me to be your speaker in today’s commencement exercises. This is indeed a huge honor and privilege on my part.
Allow me first to congratulate this year’s graduating class. After years of hard work and many sacrifices, now is your day of recognition. Today is essentially a day of acknowledging and savoring the fruits of many years of tireless and disciplined efforts of honing your talents, gaining real worthwhile knowledge and improving yourselves. I trust that your labor will be for the good not only of your own individual lives but of society as a whole.
I would also like to extend my sincere congratulations to the parents of the graduates who are over bearing with too much joy and pride of what you have accomplished. I am quite sure that your parents have sacrificed so much to leave this lasting legacy of education to their graduating sons and daughters.
And lastly to the faculty and staff, administration and others here at the Aklan State University. I salute all of you for a job well done. I am confident that they have done their best to equip each of you with the knowledge, skill, and guidance you need to prepare you for the future.
Once again, to all the graduates, your proud parents, siblings and loved ones, relatives and friends, teachers, staff and school officials, give yourselves a thunderous round of applause for a job well done.
Today, we celebrate a major milestone in your life, which are both an ending and a beginning.
Today is obviously an ending of your schooling – spanning at least 14 years or more from elementary to college as you are conferred a bachelor’s degree and receive your diploma.
Likewise, today is truly your commencement, as you start your journey into the real, challenging world where all the knowledge and competencies you have gained throughout your school life would be put to the test or into the crucible of life.
That world is called the job market where obviously the more talented, more hard-working and the more enterprising, innovative and assertive will enjoy a competitive edge than the others.
I firmly believe that your alma mater has prepared you well to face and conquer the real world.
Actually, your college degree will only serve as an entrance ticket into the job market or arena.
And how you will enhance your career or survive in the real world is completely up to your ability, determination and focus.
Thus, you will have to play, act, adapt and change accordingly.
What is certain is that throughout your career in life you will stumble and fall. And that you should or must have the courage, strength and determination to stand up and move on.
This is actually the sieve of filter that separates the men from the boys, or the women from the girls.
In reality, our life is a never ending search for knowledge and sacrifice. Neither everything is as easy as it seems nor life is just a bed of roses. The road to success is strewn with a lot of thorns and obstacles that unless you are determined to walk through it with cuts and bruises, you cannot hope to make it through life.
But one thing, I’m sure of, if you listen to the advice and counsel of your parents, brothers and loved ones, there is no reason why you cannot attain your dreams. Notwithstanding the so-called generation gap, our parents have been there before; they know what is good for you. Early in life, you must know the direction that you will take and the means on how to get there.
And it will be your call or decision on what path to take and you should remain focused so you could reach your goal – your dream.
I cannot offer you a winning formula to success and fortune, but rather I can share with you some inspirational models – three of our outstanding farmers and fisher folks who have successfully lifted themselves and their families from poverty through hard work, determination, responsiveness to change, and most of all, boldness to dream.
At this point, allow me to mention three ordinary men and women in the barangay who strived very hard and became successful agri entrepreneurs with the hope that they will serve as an inspiration to you.
The first, Felicitas or Fely Patria of Jose Dalman, Zamboanga Del Norte. Fely just finished second year high school. She went to Manila in 1990 to work as a domestic helper.
With her few savings from her meager income, she returned to Zamboanga del Norte to engage in fishing and sea-weed farming as her means of livelihood. Now, she is considered one of the most successful seaweed farmers in Mindanao with income amounting to almost one million a year.
The second is Demetrio Tableon of Butuan City. He is the eldest of nine siblings. While studying in college, he was at the same time working to finance his tuition fees and other academic requirements. Unfortunately, due to poverty, he was not able to finish his preferred course. Instead, he became a farmer and planted corn. Through hard work and determination, his income from corn grew so much that he was able to build for himself a rice and corn mill. Now, he is one of the most successful corn farmers in CARAGA region and the whole country.
The third is Joseph Fernando of Cauayan, Isabela. He was a student while tending a small farm which his parents acquired. He planted new variety of palay which is called "hybrid rice". Because of hard work and perse-verance and the latest technology application, he was able to produce 12 tons or 240 cavans of palay per hectare. This is three times the average national yield of 3.5 tons per hectare. For his efforts, Joseph was adjudged the best rice farmer of the country for the year 2007.
Fely Patria, Demetrio Tableon and Joseph Fernando are only a few of our countrymen who inspite of their humble beginnings, work their way to lift themselves and their families from poverty level. By overcoming their obstacle which is poverty, they now enjoy the fruits of their labor.
I would like to relate to you a story which tells of how a peasant overcame an obstacle that led him to a better future. In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear. But none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying on the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.
The peasant learned what many of us never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition. Just like in the story, some of you may encounter obstacles along the way and mind you just like the peasant in the story such impediment may serve to motivate you to work harder to attain your dreams. In the words of the American Educator and Writer Warren Bennis, "as weather shapes mountains, problems shape great persons".
To the graduates, I therefore hope and pray that some, if not many of you will heed the call of entrepreneurship and do your share in our continuing efforts to creating more job opportunities for our countrymen. So whether you’re a nurse, whose first impulse is to go abroad, or a teacher or an agriculturist or veterinary doctor in a private or government practice, it behooves upon us to look at opportunities around. My advice to the nursing graduates is while you earn big bucks abroad try to invest your hard earned money in our country so that you can contribute to the economic upliftment of the country.
The key to entre-preneurship is not the quality of ideas. If you have a good idea, assume that five other people are working on it at the same time. If you have a great idea, assume that ten other people are working on it. As Forbes Magazine Columnist Guy Kawasaki once said, "the key to being a successful entrepreneur is not the uniqueness of the idea, it’s the uniqueness of your ability to implement it. And the key to implementation is building a good team."
As one of the myths being peddled for entrepreneurs to succeed, is that they must produce some world-changing new product. Sir Ronald Cohen, the founder of one of Europe’s most successful venture – capital companies, points out that some of the most successful entrepreneurs concentrate on processes rather than products. For example, Fred Smith built a billion-dollar business by improving the delivery of packages through FedEx – the largest delivery system in the world or Oprah Winfrey has become America’s richest self-made woman through successful brand management.
I am quite sure that as many of you are nervous about the careers you’re about to begin. Then I read something that Peggy Noonan who wrote speeches for former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, said, which according to her, she had a three-stage reaction to working in the White House.
Stage One: I hope nobody figures out how stupid I am.Stage Two, after few months in the White House: Hey, I’m as smart as everyone else.
Then a few months later came Stage Three: Oh my God, we’re in charge? That three-stage reaction has been the same no matter where you’ll be working or even engaging in a business. It may be the defining recurrence of your adult life. And trust me: I guarantee you’ll have similar reaction no matter where you choose to ply your trade. And so to the class of 2010, on this happy day, I’ve got some news for you: Oh my God, you’re in charge".
As graduates of Aklan State University, you have gained the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions that could lead to new and exciting opportunities. So dream big and do great things. Innovate. Take a risk, because risks come with clear guarantee of knowing that, win or lose, you have gained something, simply because you tried.
Hence, as you leave the hallways of Aklan State University, I enjoin you to remain grateful to your parents and loved ones, teachers and beloved alma mater who have nurtured and will continue to see you through life. They are in the words of a famous song in the eighty’s "the wind beneath your wings". Always bear in mind that the sacrifices that they did for you are signs of love. And do your utmost best to repay them through hard work, determination, perseverance, and courage towards the attainment of your dreams.
Always take time to ask Guidance from Divine Creator to direct us towards the just and righteous path that He intended for us.
Again, on behalf of the Department of Agriculture – I salute you, the graduates of 2010, together with your family and friends who have helped make your success possible. /MP
