I want to greet all of you young achievers who are here right now. Yes, you heard me right.
You are young achievers. Consider yourself extremely lucky because you are among the honorees today out of the several hundreds of JLE students for the !ast school year. You did a great "ob, that#s why you#re !art of this year#s cream of the cro!. Congratulations to your teachers and most im!ortantly to your !arents. $lam natin na kung anong saya ng mga mag%aaral sa kanilang tagum!ay na nakamtan, doble !a roon ang kasiyahan ng ating mga magulang.
$nother school year has come to a close and it is once again time to look back at the accom!lishments and milestones we have achieved in the last &' months. (oday we celebrate that you are all moving on to the next year of your high school life, having done the necessary work, !assed the re)uisite exams and !ut in the time and effort needed to learn and to !re!are yourself for the eventual res!onsibilities of adult life. *e also recogni+e those among you who have shown exem!lary !erformance and reward the extra hard work and !erseverance you have invested to stand out among your !eers. ,or indeed in life, we rea! what we sow %%% an im!ortant lesson we should inculcate in our students that all good things in life come with hard work, determination and dedication. (here are no shortcuts to any !lace worth going. I believe in the im!ortance and relevance of the theme that the -e!artment of Education has chosen for this year.s commencement and recognition exercises. /0y education, my contribution to the future/. It reminds us of why we need to go to school. It reminds us that education is our investment in ourselves and the only inheritance our !arents can be)ueath u!on us that cannot be taken away. Indeed education is the greatest e)uali+er. 1o matter what circumstance, whether by fate or chance, you are in, your education is the one thing that will either kee! you on a level !laying field or will give you an advantage to succeed in life. 1ow more than ever, as our country and the rest of the world is in the gri! of a severe financial crisis, we should !ut a !remium on our education. I congratulate you all, es!ecially your !arents for making sure that you are able to go to school, for making sure that the crisis we face is not made an excuse for you not to be able to attend class. I know these are hard times financially, but I must em!hasi+e the im!ortance of not sacrificing our children.s education. 1o matter how difficult, it is most im!ortant to make sure that our children.s schooling is !rovided for and remains among our to! !riorities. I believe the 2 basic necessities of food, shelter and clothing, should include a fourth, and it should be education. Let us not worry and dwell too much about these hard times, for this too shall !ass. ,or as long as we kee! strong in our faith that the good Lord will always !rovide for our needs, and for as long as we continue to do our best as loving !arents to our children, we will be okay. (o our dear teachers, thank you for your continued dedication to our students. I thank you, for des!ite the financial crisis you have chosen to stay in the country to hel! sha!e our future leaders. (he !ath you have chosen to take !rofessionally is one fraught with many difficulties. 3nlike your !rofessional counter!arts in other countries who receive their "ust com!ensation,
our teachers in the 4hili!!ines, es!ecially our !ublic school teachers, have to contend not only with low salaries but often deal with disheartening conditions in our !ublic schools. -es!ite this reality, you have all chosen this !ath less taken. (o you teaching is not "ust a "ob, but a calling %% a noble sacrifice in the service of a higher !ur!ose. Instead of as!iring for better !aying "obs abroad, you choose to stay and be of service to our country. Instead of com!laining and gri!ing against our government, you have chosen to instead be !artners in im!roving the )uality of our education by sharing your talent, your education, your skills and creativity. ,or all these, we cannot thank you enough. I extend the invitation to you our dear teachers to avail of the continuing education scholarshi!s for !ost%graduate studies of the 5ffice of !eaker 6oy 1ograles. If you wish to !ursue higher education, obtain your masters and 7 or your doctors degree, !lease feel free to avail of our full scholarshi!s, meaning full tuition and fees for those who enroll in any !ost%graduate course of their choice at 3 E4. *e are also in !reliminary discussions with 34%0indanao to institute our !ostgrad scholarshi!s there as well. 8o!efully we will be able to increase the number of our !artner schools so that we can also increase the number of our !ostgrad scholars. (o our !arents and students, we also have college scholarshi!s through the 5!lam 9aalam of the 5ffice of !eaker 1ograles. *e have full scholarshi!s available for those who !ass the )ualifying entrance exams of two of our country.s !remier state universities, the 3niversity of outheastern 4hili!!ines and the 3niversity of the 4hili!!ines in 0indanao. *e also have tuition fee assistance for students who enroll in other colleges and universities. 5ur office also !rovides scholarshi!s for technical vocational courses for those who wish to !ursue them. ince all of you are still a few years away from college, !lease share the o!!ortunity with your friends and families. It is because of my family.s firm belief that the bright future we envision for our country will be determined by the )uality of education we !rovide for our children, that !eaker 6oy 1ograles has invested the ma"ority of his !riority develo!ment fund for scholarshi! !rograms and ca!acity trainings and seminars. (he 1ograles commitment to education is the 1ograles investment in the future. It is the trademark of our !olitics and our greatest advocacy. (he future of our country shall be sha!ed by the )uality of education that we are able to !rovide our children. 5ur future lies in the !artnershi! of our !arents, teachers and elected leaders in making education something that is not merely taught within the four walls of the classroom. Education is in the sha!ing and molding of our children in all as!ects of their being, both in the home and in the classroom as well as !roviding enabling o!!ortunities for self em!owerment. (o our beloved students, the lessons you have learned throughout the school year are com!rised not only of the facts and figures !rinted on your books. (he knowledge that you gained are not only the e)uations and historical names and dates nor the science that your teachers wrote on the blackboard and ex!lained in the classroom. (he most im!ortant lessons are the values and attitudes that you learned from your teachers, classmates and friends in
school. ,or these values shall serve to be the foundations, the building blocks that would determine your character. I am confident that the !ast school year has imbibed in each and every one of you the values needed to make the future bright for yourselves, your families, your communities and ultimately for our country. 0y warmest congratulations to all of you: 0y !rayers and best wishes are with each of you my dear students and with your !arents as well. $s you move on to the next level of your high school life, grab every o!!ortunity for learning as you !ossibly can, the knowledge you learn today will be your treasures in the future. (o our teachers and school administration and staff: Job well done: *e shall do it again next year: 5nce again congratulations to everyone: -aghang alamat: 0aayong buntag kanatong tanan:
