Be Not Afraid!

with Cecile M. Genove

Silliman University made an excellent choice of a speaker for this year’s 96th University Commencement held last March 22 at the Amphitheater to inspire the more than 800 members of the graduating class, which included a bountiful harvest of two summa cum laude after 25 years (the last summa cum laude graduate was in 1984 with political science major Bernadette Austria, now a lawyer), 18 magna cum laude, and 73 cum laude honors.

Prof. Leonor Magtolis Briones, current chairperson of the SU Board of Trustees, professor of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance, and former National Treasurer, humored the graduates as well as the audience when she said that some of them may have been disappointed with the university’s choice of commencement speaker. “You would have preferred someone young, beautiful, and rich. Sorry, I am not young. I was young 48 years ago. Neither am I beautiful. During our time wala pa si Vicky Belo. Neither am I rich. Academics hardly get rich,” she initiated. “Maybe they chose me because I am a lola. In our minds, lolas are for giving advice, especially for young people who are going to leave the groves of the academe and venture out into the world,” continued Prof. Briones.

For someone looking so agile and sprightly even after having planed in just a few hours ago from a grueling trip from the Netherlands, we have to give a thumbs-up sign for Prof. Briones. Anyone made of less sterner stuff would buckle from the rigors of crossing time zones and continents, but not for this feisty Social Watch chairperson. She arrived just in time for the regular meeting of the SU Board of Trustees, which she has been chairing for the last 10 years or so, then onwards to the University Commencement the following day.

She was in the Netherlands as one of eight OXFAM International ambassadors to engage the G-8 countries as part of its campaign for donor-countries to increase development assistance for education and health. The Group of Eight, or G-8, refers to the elite group of the eight richest countries of the world, namely the United States, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Russia.

In the Netherlands alone, said Prof. Briones, three million jobs are projected to be lost in 2009, with many Filipinos living and working there being affected. Because of the devastating effects of the global financial and economic crisis, which the country is now beginning to feel, Prof. Briones posed this question: Should Class 2009 of Silliman be afraid?

      On the contrary, she counters this by saying there is no reason for the graduates to be afraid. “You have completed your studies in a Christian institution. Christians are not afraid of crises; they even thrive on them,” she told the graduates and their loved ones. She drew the example of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and David facing Goliath. She underscored that Jesus Christ himself set the example in facing danger and even death on the cross without fear; thus, Jesus conquered death itself.

Prof. Briones likewise recalled the time during the Japanese invasion of the country when Silliman faculty and students fought valiantly, with families evacuating to the hills and surviving situations of immense difficulty. Sillimanians and Dumagueteños like the late Rustico Paralejas, along with Francisco Agos, Emiliano Ygnalaga and many others, who was among the leaders of the resistance. No less than the SU ROTC Unit was the first to be integrated into the USAFFE and fought against the Japanese invaders.

She reminded the graduates that when Martial Law was declared in 1972, Silliman was the first school to be closed and the last to be opened. “Alumni, faculty members, students struggled courageously against the dictatorship. Many of them continue to struggle against greed, corruption, injustice, and human rights violations. They take tremendous risks for themselves and their families,” she exhorted.

In Lola’s words, she gave the following words of advice for the graduates: First, do not be picky about jobs. Silliman has trained you not only to be a specialist but also a generalist as well. You can try other professions and learn along the way. Prof. Briones mentions herself as an example, among other prominent Sillimanians. She was trained as an accountant but realized that her field is really in public finance. Her training in accounting has helped her unravel the convolutions of public accounting, auditing, and accountability.

Second, create your own job. She said that while it is true jobs are difficult to find, opportunities for self-employment still abound. “There might be a market for a specialized kind of product – be it political campaigns, a civil society issue, a product for special people, a program on the environment, special food products – the list is endless. You can round up your friends, parents, and relatives and convince them to invest in you. It is now popular for people to create their own jobs and save on rentals by working from their own homes, using computers and alternative media,” she encouraged.

Third, invest in new skills which can create jobs. You can go into more training for skills which are practical and useful, like cooking, teaching special people, painting, and even singing. She gave as an example the hottest international singing phenomenon Charisse.

She further posed a challenge to the graduates that although they look for jobs, they should also do their work. Prof. Briones concluded with this statement from the Dalai Lama who rightly said: “In today’s highly interdependent world, individuals and nations can no longer resolve many of their problems by themselves. We need one another. We must therefore develop a sense of universal responsibility. It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members, and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.”

back to top