Graduation message to the DLS-CSB’s Class of 2017

“Assalaamu ‘Alaikum WaRahmatullahi WaBarakatuh.”

SUCH abundant and lifegiving greeting welcomed me to Marawi last time I visited in April more than two years ago. Beloved graduates, esteemed academic community of Benilde, dear parents and honored guests, I share with you today the same greeting that I received: “May the Peace and Mercy and Blessings of God be Upon You.”

To the MSU graduating class of 2015, I then said: “Today we celebrate because not all parts of Mindanao are at war. There are still sanctuaries where peace reigns. Mindanao State University (MSU) has been a sanctuary for decades for those who do not want to give up on peace and for those who continue to dream and dream big. I cannot imagine Mindanao without MSU.”

With around 80% of its student population coming from other cultures and faith traditions, MSU in Marawi was sacred space for the hopes and dreams of Maranaos. I would like to think that Marawi was also the locus of the shared hopes and dreams of every Filipino.

The latest reports from the field describe where those dreams might be today. The overall death toll as of 29 June was at 429-303 terrorists, 82 soldiers, and 44 civilians and evacuees. An estimated 200,000 civilians have evacuated the city and have fled to the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro as well as the other smaller municipalities in Lanao del Sur and del Norte. More than 40,000 families have chosen to be “bakwits” outside government evacuation centers choosing to live with poor relatives who have welcomed them warmly in their cramped dwellings. This exodus has shown forth a heart-warming facet of poverty: Many poor families have welcomed relatives and friends into their own homes providing them with whatever limited space and available provisions they can manage. I hope and pray that the “bakwits” will not wear out their welcome until the crisis is resolved.

*** Everytime I pass by Pablo Ocampo St., I cannot help but turn my gaze at the façade of your SDA Building: Big Sky. Benilde. Limitless. On one such occasion, I wondered how your virtual learning space can extend beyond the confines of your classrooms into the unscripted world of reality where life-and-death situations do not provide any immunity from elimination. When you think outside the box, you open up your integrated learning platform to the limitless sky of everyday problems. The terrible daily grind of every Filipino becomes your laboratory where creativity percolates. And, the seemingly trivial concerns of the world’s nameless and faceless hopefully will unlock the gates of innovation until you discover brilliant solutions.

Allow me to follow that lead and imagine Benilde graduates as first responders to the Marawi crisis. Can we redesign the eyeglass wear developed by Benilde’s Team Focus as a digital assistant for the visually impaired so that it is upgraded to support our troops in navigation, distance, identification, and feedback functionalities? What if our armed forces were trained in Benilde’s innovation hub and not in a military camp? Would we have won the war sooner? More importantly, would we also win the peace? Will our Benilde graduates be up to the challenge and churn out innovative solutions to our long-standing problems in governance, peace, and security?

Last week, we waited for around an hour before we could be cleared to pass one military checkpoint at the entrance to Iligan City. I then dreamt of software solutions or apps that can assist the AFP or the LGU in checkpoint surveillance, hopefully avoiding long lines and human contact. I hope we can fly drones that don’t only survey damage to infrastructure, but can also go the extra mile to deliver relief goods and medicines to far-flung areas with impassable roads. What if Benilde’s Benta Mobile is able to work with angel investors to help idle “bakwits” restart their lives by selling halal street food? What if our chefs created more exciting recipes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) rather than the walang kamatayang instant noodles and sardines?

Does anyone here have culturally sensitive and weather-adapted designs for temporary shelters and learning spaces? Can we use indigenous materials that are not only sturdy and affordable but will allow our evacuation centers to look like resorts rather than dumpsites? If our Architecture and Design students were tasked to prepare the rehabilitation plan for Marawi, how would you redraw the lines and the curves to truly make it the Islamic City of Big Dreams? Maybe Benilde can host a forum where Marawi City stakeholders can use your Model UN simulation to exchange ideas, propose solutions and, more importantly, help arrive at a consensus.

Is this just wishful thinking on my part? I don’t think so. De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde has been doing all that for close to 30 years now.

My dear graduates, do not underestimate the power of ONE. Seven years ago, Jay Jaboneta shared in Facebook that school children in Brgy. Talon-Talon in Zamboanga City had to swim to school every day. In one week’s time, the team was able to raise funds for one yellow school boat. Today, the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation has already distributed 2,146 yellow school boats and 2,024 yellow fishing boats in 100 communities nationwide, keeping 18,000 Filipino learners in the remotest islands safe and dry.

You are Benilde. As Benilde has trailblazed in cutting-edge courses when no other institution of repute was taking notice, so you are called to become real-life heroes in a world of overcautious fence-sitters and anonymous trolls. Be-gin to trailblaze. Be-lieve in the power of one. Be-queath your power to those in need.

You are Benilde. As Benilde has broken down the walls of exclusive education and pioneered in mainstreaming deaf learners and those with special needs into its programs, so you are called to break the walls of division and create a world without borders.

Be-friend the person radically different from you.

Be-hold how awesome it is to learn how to live together even in a time of turbulence.

Be-come a citizen of a world respectful of diversity.

You are Benilde. As Benilde has become an institutional examplar of what it takes to transform what is unremarkable and ordinary by giving it extraordinary attention and unconditional acceptance, so you are called to witness to the intrinsic value of every person regardless of gender, beliefs, eccentricities or even addictions.

Be-witch our turbulent world by casting a magic spell of love and respect on the hate mongers in social media.

Be-wilder the social hierarchy by prioritizing the last, the lost and the least instead of the best and the brightest.

Be-dazzle the universe with innovative solutions to the world’s problems that can only come from a graduate of Benilde.

You are Benilde. Congratulations!