> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2006 05:12:44 +0800
> From: Fatima Lasay <fats@korakora.org>
> Subject: [Korakora-List] Child of the Sun
> To: list@korakora.org
> Message-ID: <44E77ECC.8090100@korakora.org>
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> CHILD OF THE SUN:
> Belong to the Land and to the People, and serve them well
> By Dr. Jose M. Tiongco / MindaNews / 22 April 2006

> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2006 05:12:44 +0800
> From: Fatima Lasay
> Subject: [Korakora-List] Child of the Sun
> To: list@korakora.org
> Message-ID: <44E77ECC.8090100@korakora.org>
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>
> CHILD OF THE SUN:
> Belong to the Land and to the People, and serve them well
> By Dr. Jose M. Tiongco / MindaNews / 22 April 2006
>
> (Note from MindaNews: Speech delivered by Dr. Jose M. Tiongco at the 9th
> Commencement Exercises of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao,
> 22 April 2006 ).
>
>
> Were I to introduce myself, I would present a simple country bumpkin of
> a doctor, a surgeon who was born and raised in Mindanao. And will die
> here too. And that would probably be soon, if I do not finally learn in
> my old age to keep my mouth shut.
>
> I have gone around the world a few times and talked to quite a number of
> people of different races, people of different cultural, economic and
> educational backgrounds. And this is not the first time that I am
> speaking to a UP audience. But I get goose bumps every time I find
> myself in a UP institution. It is not easy to talk to UP people. I
> should know that. I come from UP myself.  You can always tell a UP
> graduate from those of the other Universities. You would generally be
> looking at a person who is multi-talented, multi-tasked, interesting,
> interested, articulate, efficient, effective, competent, self assured,
> and eager to learn more; even if you understandably would
> also have to deal with a certain palpable cockiness. Would you agree?
>
> But if there were a Jesuit in the audience today, he will probably rise
> up to say that I am really describing an Ateneo person as well! I have
> been with the Ateneo much, much longer than I had been with UP. And I
> would have to agree, especially on the cockiness part. But I will argue
> that it is in the University of the Philippines that the student
> acquires on top of all that I described, a sense of Nationalism, of
> cultural identity, and a burning sense of outrage at the historical and
> present oppression of our country and our people.
>
> And this is what UP is really known for. Would you agree?
>
> Yes. I can attest to that, having graduated 35 years ago from the
> University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila. And those
> were the times in our nation's history when the UP students hurled
> themselves at the Marcos military in the cities and in the countryside
> to tell them and the rest of the world that they would rather die than
> tolerate oppression.
>
> That was 35 years ago. And today I often wonder what happened. How could
> such a pure and pristine movement that wore the invincible armor of love
> of country and  esistance against fascism degenerate after all those
> years into the tattered rags of banditry, extortion and opportunism?
>
> Those who were fortunate enough to die in the struggle have remained
> true to the cause. But that cannot be said for the unfortunate many who
> survived. For one can now see quite a number of them carving out their
> opulent lifestyles in USA, paying only lip service to the sufferings
> here in the Philippines. And those who have decided to stay in the
> Philippines can now be seen walking the corridors of power, integral
> parts of the system they had previously fought against and wished to
> destroy.
>
> What started out with a bang has now ended with a pitiful whimper, if
> not with the clink and clatter of thirty pieces of silver.
>
> Is our history really meant to be this way?
>
> In a couple of years, the University of the Philippines System, the most
> venerable educational institution in the country will be celebrating its
> centennial.
>
> How would history judge UP in the last one hundred years? If the long
> suffering people of the Philippines were to examine the University of
> the Philippines System and grade its performance for the country in the
> last 100 years, would the UP pass or fail the examination?
>
> Or to put it bluntly and more graphically, if the President of the
> University of the Philippines System were to be dragged kicking and
> screaming into a people's court to account for the one hundred years the
> blood sweat and tears of the poor people of the Philippines were used to
> support UP as the citadel of the True, the Good and the
> Beautiful in the country, would she be able to give an answer that will
> be acceptable to the tubercular stevedore in Sasa wharf who eats only
> once a day and whose children sit in malnourished stupor by the roadside?
>
> Can she answer for the fact that up to 90% of the graduates of the UP
> College of Medicine are serving the Americans and not the Filipinos who
> sacrificed for their education and training?
>
> Can she answer for the fact that even as the graduates of UP College of
> Law top the Bar every year, the halls of Congress in the Philippines are
> filled with UP lawyers who use their legal gobbledygook to pass laws
> favorable to the multinational business
> industries in the country and detrimental to the poor in the
> Philippines?  Can she justify why justice in the Philippines is
> officially and unofficially for sale and is out of the reach of the
> ordinary Filipino who lives below poverty level?
>
> Can she answer for the fact that the graduates from the UP College of
> Agriculture in Los Banos devastate hundreds of thousands of hectares of
> prime land in Mindanao growing bananas, pineapples and oil palm for the
> transnational industries while the Philippines must still import the
> Filipinos' basic needs in rice and sugar?
>
> Can she answer for the fact that UP Geologists and Mining Engineers
> ravage our mountains and soil our pristine streams, our rivers and our
> seas and irreparably harm the environment and the health of our
> indigenous tribes and people as they extract minerals and precious
> metals for foreign business concerns?
>
> Can she answer for the fact that while UP College of Mass Communication
> supposedly teaches the loftiest principles of information dissemination
> and the responsibilities that come with the freedom of speech and
> ___expression, her graduates lead big Media organizations in the
> Philippines that are active and willing servants of big business
> interests and political pressure groups? The Philippine Media is a world
> wide marvel for its prattle and irresponsibility and for the naked
> arrogance of its power over our people. It has become more predatory,
> mercenary and corrupt than the government institutions it denounces
> every day in print and in lurid broadcast coverages.
>
> I could go down the line and pile up quite a lot of indictments against
> the UP system. But my time here as a speaker is limited.
>
> Of course, it could be argued that UP's role is that of Education and is
> different from that of the Government of the Philippines that makes the
> policies and enforces the laws of the land.
>
> But UP's role as the country's premier institution in education and
> training precedes that of the government; because it uses the Filipino
> taxpayers' money to train the leaders who eventually control the reins
> of government and private enterprises in the Philippines.
>
> If the University of the Philippines takes great pride that her
> graduates easily top the government examinations in any professional
> undertaking, the University of the Philippines must also bow its head in
> shame and sorrow because it cannot shirk the accountability and
> responsibility for her graduates who raid the coffers of the country,
> corrupt the morals of our people, and turn the Philippines into an
> international basket case and permanent laughing stock of the nations of
> the world.
>
> I am a simple country doctor. And I do not have claims to be part of the
> academe. But I do not believe in Education and Training for the sake of
> Education and Training themselves. I do not believe that Education does
> not have anything to do with Moral Duty and Accountability. I believe
> that UP, as an educational institution, must have something to do with
> the clouds of unmitigated materialism and greed that darken the cultural
> horizon of the Philippines today. I believe that a University education,
>   especially in UP has to do with the constant search for what is Good,
> what is True and what is Beautiful, no matter how polluted these
> concepts may have become
> through their constant prostitution for personal motive and gain. What
> makes a UP student momentarily flash the bright colors of Nationalism
> and love of country, and then upon graduation, promptly fall into the
> grey colors of compromise and conformity just to be able to exist in a
> way of life that forces him to suppress the shame and the painful voice
> of conscience within himself, shut himself inside his own ego, praise
> with bitter half-smiles the oppression and exploitation of his own
> people so he can beg with his eyes for a small part of the loot to be
> thrown his way?
>
> What dulls the edge of his seething outrage?
>
> I came back to Mindanao from my studies in UP Manila to seek the answers
> to these questions.
>
> Mindanao is the second largest island in the Philippines . It comprises
> thirty percent (30%) of the country's land area and is home to twenty
> percent (20%) of the  population. Seventy five percent (75%)  of the
> Mindanawons are of migrant stock, from the different areas in the
> Philippines who came to escape the cultural, political and
> economic baggage that burdened them in their places where they were
> born. They came prepared to bear the new burdens of adjustments with and
> consideration for others of different cultures, traditions and
> religions. They came prepared to work. And work hard for their children
> and for their children's children as well. They came prepared to respect
> others and be respected in their own right.
>
> Mindanao is the richest island in the Philippines. It produces 54% of
> the Gross National Product but gets only 7% of the national Budget. One
> senator from Mindanao once describe it as the National Cash Cow that
> gets only dog food ??? crumbs from the tables of the rest of the
> country. But without Mindanao, the entire Philippines would starve to death.
>
> The Philippines is a typical example of external exploitation by the G-7
> countries, and Mindanao is the typical example of internal exploitation
> by the central government in Manila.
>
> But it is here in Mindanao where the real heart of the Philippines beats.
>
> The average Mindanawon is multi-cultural and multi-lingual. He lives in
> his community, comfortable in his culture, his own way of life, even
> when his next door neighbor and friend dresses differently, eats
> differently, talks to his children in another language, and adores
> another God. His children play happily with the children of people in
> his community whom his ancestors used to be afraid of and hated and
> waged continuous wars against.
>
> It is here in Mindanao where the people consider diversity not as a
> divisive factor but the key to Unity and progress. It is here where we
> respect the rights of others to their own thinking and culture. Here
> where the central government is physically and administratively distant,
> the people have learned that working together in mutual
> respect and consideration is the key to save our families, our
> communities and our country.
>
> For generations, your fathers and mine, products of different cultures
> in the Philippines, have worked hand in hand and side by side in peace
> and brotherhood with each other and the indigenous peoples here in
> Mindanao. We belong here. It is only when the Manila government makes
> moves in Mindanao that devastating wars happen among the inhabitants of
> our island. It is a past and present government practice that the
> undesirables in the military and civil services in Luzon and the Visayas
> are punished for their transgressions by sending them to Mindanao -
> where they usually
> wreak havoc on our lives.
>
> Generations of hard work and carefully nurtured goodwill among peoples
> in our island have been erased by thoughtless and exploitative laws that
> are passed in Congress in Manila by people who have never been to
> Mindanao and are even afraid to visit it.
>
> Twenty years or so ago, a group of UP graduates here in Mindanao visited
> the other sites of UP in other areas in the Philippines like, Baguio,
> Diliman, Manila, Los Banos, Iloilo and Cebu. And they wondered why there
> was no UP in Mindanao.
>
> Thus was born a dream. And the dream was brought to a reality ten years
> later. I have watched UP Mindanao's development through the years as the
> youngest, least funded and most neglected institution in the UP system.
> And I have cheered your valiant efforts. I knew in my heart that you
> would be different from all the other UPs in all the
> other places in the Philippines because of the legacy of cultural
> belongingness, respect and tolerance you have been exposed to. And I
> never doubted your success.
>
> I do not believe that the majority of your students use UP Mindanao only
> as a jumping board to UP Diliman. Only the most calloused and unseeing
> students would not swear to the vision and mission of UP Mindanao.
>
> The University of the Philippines in Mindanao is committed to lead in
> providing affordable quality education, scholarly research, and
> responsive and relevant  extension services to diverse, marginalized and
> deserving sectors in Mindanao and neighboring regions through its
> programs in the sciences and the arts inculcating a passion for
> excellence, creative thinking, and nationalism in the context of
> cultural diversity in a global community.
>
> As you graduate from the youngest UP institution, aware of your role in
> community building in Mindanao, you are sending a dare to the older
> institutions in the University of the Philippines System. Here is UP
> Mindanao's answer to the failures of the University of the Philippines
> System: Belong to the Land and to the People, and serve
> them well!
>
>  From here onwards you have crowned yourself with the laurels of
> commitment to service.
>
> Do not listen when they tell you that the crown of laurels you wear is
> soaked in disappointments and bitterness and the dried leaves hide
> thorns and maggots. Do not listen when they say that a life dedicated to
> others is not a life; that it does not bring food and comfort to you and
> your children; that it brings you no honor and laurels serve not even as
> condiments for a meal. Do not sell your life of service to your
> countrymen for thirty pieces of silver.
>
> Because if you do, then deep in the night, years and years from now,
> when your remaining hair has turned to silver, a small voice will speak
> to you, just before you fall asleep. And you will have to listen to it.
> Or break apart.
>
> And it will be in Spanish. Because it was said by a man who died young,
> twelve years before the University of the Philippines was born in 1908.
> He was a man who spent the last years of his life here in the service of
> our people in Mindanao. And he said it to an old man like me, who had
> white hairs on his head. And this may well have been
> spoken by you, the graduates of a young and dynamic UP Mindanao to the
> old and failing University of the Philippines System.
>
> Cuando tenga canas come esas, senor, y vuelva la vista hacia mi pasado y
> vea que solo he trabajado para mi, sin haber hecho lo que buenamente
> podia y debia por el pais que me ha dado todo, por los cuidadanos que me
> ayudan a vivir, entonces, senor, cada cana me sera una espina y en vez
> de gloriarme de ellas, me he de avergonzar!
>
> Ug sa ato pa:
> Sir, pagabut sa panahon nga ang akong ulo, maora sad kadaghana ang uban
> susama sa inyo, unya balikon nako ug lantaw ang akong kinabuhi, unya
> Makita nako nga ang akong mga paningkamut diay, alang lang sa akong
> kaugalingon ug walay kalabutan sa mga maayong butang nga ako untang
> nabuhat u di kaha kinahanglan buhaton alang sa lungsod nga mao'y
> naghatag sa ako sa tanan, alang sa akong mga isigkatao ng mitabang sa
> ako arun manginabuhi; nianang panahuna, Sir, ang tagsa-tagsa ka uban nga
> anaa sa akong ulo mahimo ug maidlot nga tunok nga muduksak sa akong
> panghunahuna ug inay nga mahimayaon ako sa akong katigulangon, iduko
> hinuon nako ang akong ulo sa tumang kanugon ug kaulaw!
>
> So if there is anything then, that Mindanao has taught you here in
> University of the Philippines, it is to belong to land, to belong to
> others, especially those who have made you what you are; to be sensitive
> to their needs, to constantly consider the other person's way of
> thinking, in much the same way as you considered everyday,
> what language to use to talk to the little child of a jeepney conductor
> who took your fare, or to the daredevil habal-habal driver who took you
> over the butt breaking roads to your refreshing little UP Mindanao campus.
>
> Look up to the mountain that you see everyday. Breathe in the pure air
> of Mindanao. This may be your last day in the campus. Take it all in.
> And remember it well. Most of you will wander far over yonder, but you
> will never find anything more beautiful.
>
> Because you will never find the True, the Good and the Beautiful in the
> world, no matter where or how you search, unless you find them first
> here on that mountain where the gods of our beloved Mindanao dwell, here
> among your people who made you what you are now, and finally, here in
> your own heart.
>
> (Dr. Jose M. Tiongco is a graduate of the University of the Philippines
> College of Medicine Class 1971. He writes a column titled "Child of the
> Sun" for MindaNews and is the author of "Child of the Sun Returning," a
> book about the early years of the Medical Mission Group Hospitals and
> Health Services Cooperative-Philippines Federation, where he is chief
> executive officer).
>
>