Hi all,

I’ve been to a few commencement exercises over the last few weeks and in each one, there’s always been an inspiring story to tell. Today, there was Eliza Jane Maala.

Though she is the eldest of four, one of her siblings decided to skip school altogether in order to earn for the family. Her mother is a seamstress and her father is a carpenter without a steady income. Eliza who was a working student since high school eventually let go of her job as a hardware clerk in order to become a tuition-free University Scholar in the Batangas State University. Despite the sweat and tears, the disadvantage of dealing with problems beyond her years, she graduated today at the top of her class, B.S. Accountancy, magna cum laude.

There are so many like her… So many who struggle day in and day out who, despite the overwhelming odds against them, are able to crawl from very humble beginnings to rise academically over those more privileged. For this alone they deserve to be congratulated.

The overriding question though is, what happens now? How will they face the world after the solitude of the academe? Will they give in to the demoralizing institution that is our government and flee our shores for better haven? I hope not. There is so much potential in our graduates, so much idealism and creativity that deserves more than a fleeting acknowledgment of their academic achievements from despised trapos (perhaps some would even consider me one of them). They deserve a government that doesn’t cheat them at every turn. They deserve to be led to a future of proud civic involvement and not wistful apathy.

Like Eliza, people deserve to have their faith rewarded. The Filipino deserves better.

M.