At the onset of the pandemic and a few months before the shutdown of ABS-CBN where I worked as a reporter, anchor, executive producer and correspondent for DZMM and other online platforms of the network for over 23 years, I started pursuing a post-graduate degree.
On August 13, I finally received my diploma with distinction and a citation for having excellently presented and defended my dissertation. During the face-to-face commencement exercises of STI West Negros University, I delivered a speech on behalf of honor students and I am sharing it in this space. I have omitted some lines for brevity.
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Maayong gab-i sa inyo tanan!
The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was a test of survival. The virus caught us all off guard and placed every single one of us to the ultimate test. It forced us to stay home and the lockdowns and quarantine made us miss old school human interaction sans the gadgets.
Reluctantly, we embraced the virtual way of doing things at work, in school and catching up with loved ones. Everyone got reminded and the pandemic continues to remind us how fragile and fleeting life is, how we must live one day at a time and be grateful for being able to wake up to another day without any symptom. I would say 2020 through 2021 was all about surviving.
But after that first year of the pandemic, people seem to have grown tired of being fearful and restricted from moving around freely as these affected their productivity as workers and bread winners. That was also the time when people braved to go out of their comfort zones in order to have a semblance of normalcy.
It was in 2021 also when gradually, we started to see good things happening and hearing good news after enduring months of stories about illness and deaths. It was such a relief to see social media newsfeeds carrying content about graduates topping and passing the board and bar examinations.
For journalists, freedom fighters like me and Communication and Media students, Maria Ressa being named the first Filipino Nobel Peace Prize Laureate was a breath of fresh air.
It was also in the same year when the roll out of COVID vaccines significantly weakened the link between contracting the disease and death. This led to the opening of borders, lowering of alert levels and the gradual re-opening of businesses that were badly hit by the pandemic.
Among the best news last year that somehow was not given much attention was about female politicians being chosen to lead countries like Estonia, Sweden, Honduras, Samoa, Tanzania and Tunisia. Estonian World reported that on January 26, Estonia became the only country in the world currently led by women – Kersti Kaljulaid and Kaja Kallas. Kallas was elected president while Prime Minister Kaljulaid was elected by the parliament in 2016. Also, for the first time, in 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first female and first African leader of the World Trade Organization.
A breakthrough in legislation took place in the United Kingdom also last year with the implementation of the Age Appropriate Design Code. The AADC is considered the first of its kind in the world when it comes to legislation and it aims to make the digital world safer for children. The code requires online firms, including social media platforms and search engines, to respect children’s privacy and personal data.
Why am I enumerating all these? It is because these were what went right in 2021, and this good news would have not happened had these men and women chose only to survive. They did not. Instead, they chose to transcend.
To transcend is to be or go beyond the range or limits of. it is to surpass a person or an achievement. It is to rise above challenges, fears, limitations. To triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of.
To overcome.
And we all inside this convention center, my fellow graduates, can relate to what I am saying for we have not only chosen to keep ourselves healthy and alive but we have also made the choice to take risks, expose ourselves and go beyond merely having the essentials we and our families need. We pursued something that we all know was not easy to achieve especially in the midst of a pandemic.
Needless to say, the sleepless nights and days of whining, starving, crying, complaining, nearly surrendering. But look! We are all here today. We are not mere survivors. We are transcenders!
Each of us has a story of struggle and success to tell. Five minutes won’t be enough for me to describe what my two years were like when I was pursuing my post-graduate studies. I know the same goes with you. That is why we all deserve a resounding round of applause!
I believe that in times of crisis, we should always choose to see the good in the bad. And when opportunities are scarce, we must create them by making ourselves relevant, highly in demand.
That is why I am among the graduates of the Doctor in Public Administration Program because I strongly believe in career progression, in boosting my expertise and in gaining additional knowledge and skills. For me, every professional must seek and seize opportunities for career advancement. That is exactly what we did and how we use this new feather in our cap is part of our quest for transcendence.
American talk show host, TV producer, author and philantropist Oprah Winfrey whose story of survival and transcendence is beyond admirable said, “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”
We’ve bravely asked for this and now we’ve got it!
Let us transcend and not get stuck with TikTok, disinformation and tsismis.
Congratulations to the graduates of Class 2022!
We must keep aiming high and seek to gain transcendent experiences – events that bring us out of our ordinary minds!
Madamo nga salamat! Padayon!*
