Mabini Hall - Access to Justice

This week is turning out to be pretty special. I celebrated my birthday and what better way to celebrate than to speak before 5,000 high school student leaders from all over the land. Their energy level was breathtaking and impossible to match from the opening raucous birthday song as a welcome gift.

I shared three stories. The first one was sad. Sonny is a super achieving student—valedictorian and president of the student council. He went to college in the big city and for the first time, started to feel inadequate. He was lumped with a hundred other honor students all equally intelligent and driven. Quickly, the intense pressure of academics and juggling student life took its toll. Sonny felt so lost. Turns out his parents were separated with his mom in the States. Left to his own devices and alienated from friends and family, he attempted to kill himself.

When I asked the audience of their experience of suicide, almost everyone answered, yes, they knew of somebody who had tried it. I asked if anyone here was one of those and, as a testament to the honesty and courage of the young, one or two hands went up. To break the serious tone, I then inquired if any of the successful ones were around to share their stories. The first lesson was to be a friend, to listen with sincerity to people whom we may never see again.

The next was about Tanya. She was a dream girl on campus and said yes to a boy on her fourth year. They had sex and the boyfriend took photos of her. Now, don’t be a prude. Students these days may know more about the birds and bees than we used to in our time. The least we can do is to bring issues out in the open and tackle them head on. We know of teenage pregnancies and incest cases from teachers’ and counselors’ reports.

Talking about sex in a crowd was discomforting but the second lesson was important—listen to yourself. What happened was that Tanya entered college, broke off with the high school sweetheart and started to date. The ex threatened to post the photos online if she didn’t get back with him. Tanya is now crying—feeling betrayed and vulnerable—in the name of first love.

I earlier promised the kids to return the favor. The PowerPoint presentation suddenly went blank and the lyrics of the song I’m yours by Jason Mraz flashed on screen. Boy, you should have been here to hear the shrieks. I asked for volunteers to sing with me and just about everyone did. Four were picked and they surged onstage while the first few notes began to fill the auditorium. It was a riot. I couldn’t hear myself anymore. Now, if you don’t know the song, you can’t relate as much. Everyone was singing and swaying. And that, after hundreds of lectures, was my first song and dance number in a talk. We focused on a few lines on the message of finding one’s self.

The third story was on rich kid Donna. Everything she has is branded and her allowance is bigger than an ordinary worker’s wages. Today, she lives on credit card debt. Some of the students live on P70 a day, others on P50. The traditional equation of Allowance—Expenses = Savings is turned around to Allowance— Savings = Expenses to emphasize the value of thrift and the teachings of prudence and charity from our parents. Therein lies the lesson—to know our selves we start from the precept of familial love as the transmitter of God’s grace.

We ended the session with a foot-stamping, thigh-slapping activity that shook the pine trees to the roots. It has been a most special time and I heartily shouted a thank you. Thank you too, dear friends and readers, for another year of writing. Next week and the many weeks to come will be special. May God grant us the strength and the humility to carry on. Thank you Director Joey Pelaez and Donna for the invitation and the chance to share and celebrate.