SPEECH 2023

My greetings and courtesy to the school principal of Amas

National High School, my former boss in Kidapawan City
National High School, sir Israel Gabion, Sir. To the backbone
of the Department of Education – the teaching force of this
school, some were my former teachers, my classmates and
schoolmates, now my colleagues in the department,
ma'am/sir. To the Barangay & PTA Officials in attendance,
Maam/Sir. To these awesome, young, and optimistic students
whom I consider the pride of this school, my congratulations
in advance. To all the non-teaching staff and the rest of the
government workers who are present today, to the proud
parents, friends, ladies, and gentlemen, good morning!
To the School's Division Superintendent of Kidapawan City
Division, Dr. Natividad G. Ocon, CESO VI, equally represented by
PSDS Antonio Pasigado, sir. To the dynamic principal of this
school, my former boss in Kidapawan City National High School,
sir Israel Gabion, Sir. To the backbone of the Department of
Education – the teaching force of this school, some were my
former teachers, my classmates and schoolmates, now my
colleagues in the department, ma'am/sir. To the Barangay & PTA
Officials in attendance, Maam/Sir. To these awesome, young, and
optimistic students whom I consider the pride of this school, my
congratulations in advance. To all the non-teaching staff and the
rest of the government workers who are present today, to the
proud parents, friends, ladies, and gentlemen, good morning!
Three weeks ago, one of my classmates and friends in high school
invited me to be your guest speaker. At first, I was hesitant to
accept the invitation knowing that I was not the class valedictorian
of our batch. This was my initial thought because valedictorians or
salutatorians are usually and commonly invited as academic
speakers. I told my wife about this, and she jokingly said, "Datu
man gud ka!" I laugh for a while knowing that I am a teacher & I
guess many teachers could relate from this NA BASTA TEACHER,
DATU JUD NA, DATU SA UTANG! (Kaya students you must be
thankful to all your teachers because they spent a lot of their
personal finances just provide you quality education). Now going
back, that statement made me realized as well that that yes, I am
rich in many aspects. And today, I'll be teaching you tips on how to
become "RICH."
When I was your age, I went to school every day
with dreams and ambitions of becoming an engineer
someday. Although I wasn't as good as my
classmates when it came to analyzing and solving
math problems, it never stopped me from holding
onto my dream of being called an engineer. I took
the USM College Entrance Examination, and Civil
Engineering was my first choice of course. When I
received the results, I garnered the lowest score in
Mathematics among the other subject areas in the
exam.
Fortunately, I still qualified for the course because my
percentile rank that time was 92%. I passed the series of
interviews and assessments for Civil Engineering during the
enrollment procedures but never became a civil engineering
student even once. This was because my late father
discouraged me from pursuing engineering “Ayaw lang pag
engineering, kay basi mabagsak ka” the reason was very
obvious and that was because of our financial situation-pobre
mi. At that time, there were three of us in college, and the only
way to sustain our education was through my 4000 pesos
semestral budget from my scholarship. This scholarship
required maintaining a grade to avail of such benefits.
So, I chose BS Business Administration not because I found
it easy, but because it was my second choice. Since
elementary school, I have been involved in business. I sold
food and other items in the classroom just to meet my daily
needs in school. I guess this was the reason why I chose
that course. In 2012, I finished college and started working
in the Dept. of Trade & Industry. In 2016, I was hired as a
Senior High School teacher in the Department of Education.
It was never in my wildest dream to become a teacher
someday. From an aspiring Engineer to a hopeful
businessman but ended up as a classroom teacher – See?
Now, do I feel sorry about this? NO!
As you grow older, life's demands are
immeasurable. Daghan ta ug gusto abuton, mga
pangandoy na gusto nato matuman. However,
there will be many unpleasant events along the
way. Some will make you cry, feel sad, stressed,
or depressed. You might feel hopeless and
betrayed at some point or be bombarded with
pressures in your education, community, and
family. All of these are part of life. It's okay not to
be okay, but don't stay that way.
You have to stand up, move forward, and face
everything that blocks your dream. As they say,
when one door closes, another door will open.
But it's not just about seizing the opportunity; it's
about how you handle and carry yourself through
that opportunity. When you find yourself feeling
hopeless in your current situation, find joy in
discovering the meaning of your life in that
situation. Always look at the brighter side of
every situation.
The Department of Education is striving for a
well-rounded resilient learner. In fact, this
year's moving-up theme, "Graduate ng K to
12: Hinubog ng Matatag na Edukasyon," & it
speaks about resilience. And being resilient
led me to where I am now. I am rich not
because I have plenty of money (remember,
I am not a millionaire's son), but because I
have improved myself in many ways.
Like you, I dreamed, and I worked for
those dreams. Like any one of us, I
also experienced failures&
disappointments. I got depressed and
felt hopeless, but at the end of the
day, I always held onto that dream and
found reasons to stand up and
continue the life I started.
Now, going back to my wife's statement,
"Datu man gud ka,“ where I optimistically
responded with a big “YES!“. Riches are
not only measured by the materials you
possess—money, cars, mansions, big
businesses, and many others—but
rather, wealth encompasses various
aspects of life beyond materialism:
Your health and well-being, your relationships
and connections, your personal growth and
development, inner fulfillment and
happiness, your contribution and impact on
the lives of others, time freedom, experiences
and adventures, and many others. True
wealth goes beyond material possessions and
embraces a holistic perspective towards joy,
purpose, and fulfillment.
Now, to become RICH, here's my single tip – Be
resilient. According to the American Psychological
Association, resilience is the process and outcome
of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging
life experiences, especially through mental,
emotional, and behavioral flexibility and
adjustment to external and internal demands.
Here are the 5 ways on how to become resilient:
1.Find a Sense of Purpose: When I learned that I could no
longer continue my dream of becoming an engineer, I felt
sad. However, I told myself that maybe I could be better
and more productive in business. Indeed, I now own a
sole proprietorship business in our place, offering digital
printing services like tarpaulin, t-shirt printing, and other
printed personalized items.
Having a sense of purpose gives meaning to life's
challenges, it provides motivation to learn from
experiences for you to keep moving forward.
2. Be Optimistic & Believe in Your Abilities: When I started
teaching, I had many "what ifs" in my mind. What if my students
didn't learn from me because I didn't have any teaching
experience to effectively teach them? Now, after seven years in
the Department of Education, I feel happy when my former
students would say, "Sir, thank you kay daghan mi na tun-an,
wala mi naglisud sa among accounting subjects sa college”
Confidence in your abilities to cope with stress and crisis builds
resilience. Replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations to
reinforce self-belief. Instead of saying “Kaya kaya nako ni?” you
say “Kaya nako ni!”
3. Develop a Strong Social Network: Family and
friends they are your best network. Surrounding
yourself with caring and supportive individuals
acts as a protective factor during difficult times.
Whenever I feel down, I don't usually open up
about my problems to just anyone. Choose
someone you can truly trust and who can give
you the best advice for your problem.
4. Embrace Change: Being flexible and adaptable is
crucial for resilience. Resilient individuals view life crises
as opportunities for personal growth and exploration,
thriving despite sudden changes.
When my career path changed for the third time, I
embraced the changes and fully accepted the challenge
of becoming a teacher. Despite the changes, I took
advantage of the situation by developing my skills and
knowledge in business by pursuing my MBA in Davao
City.
5. Take Action: Ayaw pag luya-luya, as what
I’ve said a while ago, its ok not to be okay,
but don’t stay that way. Waiting for
problems to resolve themselves prolongs
crises. Take immediate steps towards
resolving the issue, focus on the progress
made, and proactively work towards
solutions to regain control over the
situation.
5 ways on how to become resilient
1.Find a Sense of Purpose:
2.Be Optimistic & Believe in Your Abilities:
3.Develop a Strong Social Network:
4.Embrace Change:
5.Take Action:
By cultivating resilience, you develop the inner
strength and determination necessary to face
obstacles, setbacks, and self-doubt that may arise
while pursuing your dreams. It enables you to stay
focused, adapt, learn, and persist, ultimately
increasing your chances of reaching your goals and
living a fulfilling and purposeful life.
Be successful, be rich, be resilient!
Daghan salamat! Dalaygon ang Dios!