17 June 2016
Philippine International Convention Center
Manila
We make a living by what we take, but we make a life by what we give.
This quote is often mistakenly attributed to Sir Winston Churchill, but regardless of who originally said it, the message is clear: Life is more than what we take or what we have.
Before anything else, I want to congratulate the parents and guardians of our graduates. You parents and guardians were selfless in giving to your children the support that enabled them to get this far. I am sure their graduation today makes you happy and proud.
I also commend the UP Manila administrators, faculty, REPs, and staff. You were exemplary in giving your best in fostering a culture of excellence in UP Manila. Forty nine years ago today, on the 17th of July 1967, what is now UP Manila was constituted as the health sciences center of the Philippines by law. Over the past five (5) decades, you have proven the essence of being; you have excelled in your respective fields and have risen to the call of service to the nation in your advocacies—advocacies that range from newborn screening and community health, to sin taxes and universal health care, among others.
Of course, most of all, I congratulate the UP Manila Class of 2016 for success in your studies. You graduates have reached another important milestone in your life—a point at which you choose where you go next and which path to take. The choice, for sure, is not as easy as solving for x in a Math class. Sometimes that is hard, too, but the problems you will face from now demand more than just intellect—you will need you a strong sense of value, a good level of maturity, and a different kind of wisdom. In comparison, your earlier decision to study in UP and take your studies seriously might appear now to be no brainer.
Good our commencement theme, Integrity and Social Responsibility: Commitment of Every Iskolar ng Bayan can serve as a guide on how to tread the path that you will eventually choose: whether you will settle on just making a living or rise up to make a life of giving and of service. Keep in mind: We make a living by what we take, but we make a life by what we give.
Around you graduates are people who have given a lot get you to this morning’s ceremonies—your parents, your mentors, your peers. These are people you know and can thank individually. But you have faceless supporters: the hordes of taxpaying Filipinos who have contributed collectively to your education in UP, the country’s sole national university. How do you thank them?
Making a living: Excellent and honorable
Making a decent living is probably your initial priority as you graduate. Whether you are the child who wants to uplift the life of your family, the hijo or hija who wants to prove your mettle to your successful parents, or simply someone who wants to enjoy life as it unfolds.
Making a living is something everyone needs to do. You will realize this once you start paying your bills and do groceries with your own money. For some who need not worry about finances after graduation, making a living becomes an affirmation of their status, of their ability to be productive human beings.
That is why, by all means, make a living. Use everything you have acquired in the University to excel in your endeavor. Being the best in what you do is one of the tributes that you can offer to UP and our nation. Get the accolades, the awards, the praises. Make a living. It is what the world expects you to do.
Making a living could manifest in many ways: having a lucrative professional practice, achieving scientific and technological breakthroughs, building an artistic career, climbing the corporate sector ladder. Any of these is a mark of what is conventionally called success. An epitome of excellence to many.
But in your pursuit of excellence, do not overlook honor. Ethical conduct should set the parameters of excellent work. Being ethical is a way of approaching the world that I hope you have learned in the University and will apply in the real world. Know also that legal is not necessarily ethical or moral. Income tax returns that are legally compliant may not be morally upright when contrived.
I know it is hard to be an honorable person amidst the temptations of fast money and instant fame. But holding yourselves up to high standards of behavior is what builds your integrity. This very word, integrity comes from the Latin word ‘integer’, meaning intact or whole—you are only whole when you have your honor, when your façade is the same as your inner core.
With no exception, honor is in tandem with UP’s tradition of excellence. Dangal at husay in Filipino: they are equally important. Both, together, will make you whole and define your integrity.
Making a life of service: Extraordinary
Perhaps you will, indeed, make a living with excellence and honor. But are you content with that?
I argue, ladies and gentlemen, that making a living is not enough. That is what is ordinarily expected and aspired for. But if you are from UP, should you be satisfied with just the ordinary?
You have never been ordinary! You were chosen from the best and brightest among our country’s youth. But I caution you, don’t begin to think you’re Frodo Baggins marching into Mordor! You don’t have the ring to rule them all.
We have heard of stories about UP grads who behave arrogantly in the workplace, due perhaps to a feeling of entitlement being products of the country’s premier university. At the same time, you must have read about that Jobstreet survey of 550 companies. The said survey shows UP grads as being only 3rd most employable. You must have thought, What? I went through how many Hell Weeks1 just to become the 3rd preference among employers? The validity of that survey may be questioned but we have to accept, true or not, this is bad reputation. We need to change the negative impression. The difference between smart and wise is that wise will always be willing to learn and reform.
We have a time-honored culture of activism in the University and that probably ingrained in us the propensity to talk. Yet it is also a common comment from employers: UP grads cannot communicate well. What a plot twist, isn’t it? Our graduates can talk, but cannot communicate?
This is why I said earlier, from now on, you will need more than just intellect. You’ve never been ordinary, you were chosen—not to become this nation’s privileged intellectual elite, but this nation’s hope.
Remember: We must succeed not because we have a reputation to keep but because we have a country to serve. I said this during my investiture as UP President. I’m sharing it again because we have to keep returning to this kind of mindset. It is the kind of mindset that makes your UP education extraordinary. It is what makes you extraordinary.
A lot of you here have return service agreements. Maybe you feel it is an imposition, but we hope that you take this as an opportunity to learn more about the condition of our country: the needs and challenges that require your talents.
I hope you also consider it as your investment in what this nation could be. Eventually, outside of obligation, I hope that you consider service as a way of life. It is a commitment to a better nation and a better world for everyone to live in. This may not come instantly for some, because you do need to make a living. But as you make a living, continue to better yourselves and your capabilities. Hone your skills and expertise. Build up your career. So when you are ready to make a life someday, you will have more to give.
I am sure most of you here would describe today’s ceremony as a moment of happiness. And more moments like this—getting your academic degrees, getting hired, winning a contest, making breakthroughs—will make you even happier. Notice though, that most of these moments of happiness are moments when you take something: your diploma, your first salary, your first car, or even your first love. It’s about taking, getting, having, owning. That’s okay. After all, you deserve to take and get the things that you have worked hard for (yes, even your first love).
But what about the firsts that involve giving without taking or getting anything in return? How about the first time you went to a community of indigenous people or IP? The first time you went to an outreach in an underserved neighborhood? The first time you volunteered in Ugnayan ng Pahinungod? These are also significant moments that involve not personal gain but giving your time and energy to a cause larger than yourself.
Making a life of service will not be easy—you may become overworked, underpaid, and even unappreciated. People may, and often will, forget to thank you along the way.
For future doctors, there will only be four of you servicing ten thousand patients, according to Department of Health. It is hard to talk people into serving the hinterlands at a salary of as low as P15,000 monthly. It’s not a very happy picture, is it?
More than happiness then, service is about attaining a sense meaning and purpose. At the end of the day, which makes us more satisfied?
An exploratory study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology in 2013 reported the difference. According to the authors: Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker.2
They defined meaningfulness as “both a cognitive and an emotional assessment of whether one’s life has purpose and value”. And one way of finding that purpose is to dedicate yourself to making a life of giving and service.
I hope that you will not take it against me my emphasis on giving and service today. I know that you have gone through rigorous and demanding education and would welcome a time off on your graduation day. But this is exactly the day when you can easily imbibe and imbed in your consciousness the notion of giving and service.
My preference is for you to take a longer view—not just immediately after graduation but more so in the future when you are better able, more capable, and less bothered by the day-to-day concerns of making a living.
Of the thousands who aspire to enter UP year after year, less than a fifth make it. The few who make it are given world class education by excellent teachers, backed by resources that are not accessible to many schools in the country. The nation is investing in UP so that UP can deliver on its mandate of producing competent and responsible leaders. We take seriously our slogan, UP: Shaping the Minds that Shape the Nation.
The country is confronted with challenges so complex that it needs the best and brightest minds we can muster. We must soon find workable answers to several pestering questions. How do we reduce poverty that continues to trap almost a quarter of Filipinos? How do we lower maternal and infant mortality? How do we ensure universal access to affordable and quality health care? Finding the answer to these questions and several others is our extraordinary task in UP as the country’s national university—your challenge as UP graduates.
I am not saying UP graduates have the monopoly of knowledge and ability, still, you are the ones especially expected to take leadership in shaping the nation. Always remember, you are from the University of the Philippines. You carry the name of our nation in your degree wherever life brings you, however you make a living or make a life.
More than a hundred years ago, Jose Rizal wrote in El Filibusterismo, through the character of Padre Florentino, a question that I hope we can now confidently answer today: “Where are the youth who will consecrate their golden hours, their illusions, and their enthusiasm to the welfare of their native land?”
I fervently believe, ladies and gentlemen, that they are in front of me— the youth who will lead their lives with integrity and with a sense of social responsibility. Tinatawagan ko kayo, mga Iskolar ng Bayan: may Rizal’s call be your commitment to nation. No, let Rizal’s call be our joint commitment to the nation as One UP.
Maraming salamat. Padayon, UP!
1 (Student term for the weeks leading to finals)
2 Baumeister, R., Vohs, K., Aaker, J., & Garbinsky, E. (2013). Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life. Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(6), 505-516.
This message is part of the collection of Messages from the President of the University of the Philippines. You can access the other pieces by clicking through the image below.
To view photos of the UP Manila graduation, please click through the photos below.
