DR. MILWIDA “NENE” GUEVARA Response 2nd Gawad Haydee Yorac Awarding Rites March 4, 2008, 5:30 P.M. Meralco Theatre

I feel so small, so scared and apologetic in front of you today.

There is no way I can measure up to the standards of Prof. Haydee Yorac. Unlike her, I get overwhelmed by the immensity of the problems of education realizing that we have to confront the problems of poverty, hunger, child labor, and domestic violence. In some occasions, I find myself doubting our capability to make a difference.

My work is the result of the work of hundreds and I have no right to be at the centre of this attention. I stand on the shoulders of giants like Mr. SyCip, Fr. Nebres, our trustees, local government leaders, parents, teachers, school officials, donors, Synergeia partners and volunteers. This honor belongs to them and I thank them from my heart for what Synergeia has become. Our simple “Reading Proficiency Program” has now grown into an Education Governance Program that moves communities to embrace the responsibility of providing quality basic education to their children. From five local governments in 2003, Synergeia is partnering with more than 250 municipalities all over the country on changing a highly closed and centralized public school system to a system that is participatory and transparent. From focusing on disparate programs such as building classrooms and providing scholarships, local governments are becoming more strategic and wholistic on how to improve learning performance of children, reduce dropout rates, develop responsible parents, and reinvent Local School Boards.

The honor also belongs to my former colleagues in government, especially , the Department of Finance and the Senate, those who are honorable from the media, the warriors from the academe particularly Prof. Monsod and Prof. Medalla, the business community, especially Peter Wallace, who provided me with technical assistance, and held my hand in the difficult processes of bringing services into the VAT system, developing an oil tax consistent with deregulation, strengthening the income tax system, and addressing tax evasion problems in the cigarette and beer industry.

I did not know Prof Yorac personally. My knowledge about her was limited to what I read from newspapers. I had the fortune though to be on the same plane with her in 2000. She was carrying several suitcases to hold the presents that she was buying for relatives and friends. I thought that she must be a loving person who is loved immensely in return. Although she hardly knew me, we chatted animatedly and I followed her blindly. Unconsciously, we found ourselves crossing the red line at the US Customs which said “Goods to Declare”. She laughingly opened her luggage and offered no excuse for our mistake. I thought that if a seasoned traveler and a respected person like Haydee Yorac can laugh over a mistake, then I should be able to laugh at my mistakes and make no big deal about them.

Such limited exposure did little to prepare me to understand the awesome responsibility that this award carries. After reading what this award is all about, I felt totally overwhelmed and unworthy. For days, my mind went blank on what to say tonight. At dawn today, I asked Prof. Yorac to help me . A thought struck me that this award is not about me at all. This award is intended to celebrate the ideals, the spirit, the passion, the work, and, the life of a public servant that Haydee Yorac was. It is an opportunity to show that Filipinos put a premium on integrity, courage, selflessness, and conscience. This award demonstrates that ordinary Filipinos like you and I can live a life like Haydee Yorac did.

Haydee Yorac’s passion, is to be totally absorbed, enthused, and obsessed by the pursuit of one’s goal.. There are no “ifs and buts”, no obstacles, and no mountain that is high enough. It was passion that moved me to continue the fight against tax evasion despite being clobbered in Congressional hearings, and being repeatedly called incompetent and a liar. Passion moved us to continue our education programs despite the closure of the Manila office of the Ford Foundation. Passion enables us to overcome our fear of the sea and mountains to help children who are still unable to read despite spending years in schools. Passion sustains our commitment despite bouts with pneumonia and dengue. Passion enables us not to give up on communities that are unwelcoming, and indifferent. Passion is speaking about a cause again and again with the same intensity . Passion is loving your work as if your whole life depended on it.

Haydee Yorac’s integrity enables us to see that there is more to life than wealth and power. Integrity is being happy in what you have so that we can resist and be delivered from the lures of money and comfort. Integrity is appreciating the pure joy from doing what is right. Integrity is putting a premium on honor over and above the pleasures of a comfortable life. Integrity is making decisions based on what is true and correct.

Haydee Yorac’s kind of patriotism enables us to love the Philippines despite the poverty, my flooded town, the pollution, the laws that do not work, the discomfort, the stench of garbage and corruption. It is sharing what is best in us to help shape good public policies,, educate the public, implement good programs, support good causes, strengthen Filipino patriots, and help in the formation of the youth. And if love of country means joining rallies on the streets to advocate for what is right, then we should do it over and over again.

Haydee Yorac’s selflessness is dying to one’s self. It is believing that one has been created for a nobler purpose than self-gratification. It is recognizing that the stories of others are as important , if not more important than ours.

It is freedom from personal glorification or gains. It is detachment from honors, awards, and recognition. It is freedom from the need to see your face in posters in every corner of the street. It is not giving away rice or opening schools. It is experiencing joy in empowering others to become and realize their full potential.

Haydee Yorac’s bravery is trusting in the infinite love of God, in discerning what He wants us to do, and in doing what He wants us to do. This faith gives us the courage to speak what is true, do what is right, overcome pain and disappointments, and rise up afterfailures. It must be the calmness and peace with which martyrs like Jose Rizal faced death.

Happy Birthday, Prof. Yorac. In your honor, Synergeia will use the P300,000 gift prize for programs that will enable children from the E.B. Magalona and the poorest municipalities of Negros Occidental to read and write well. We will inspire the children in all Synergeia communities to emulate your examples through story telling sessions. They may not grow up to be as intelligent as your are, they may opt not to be single like you and me. But I have promised Mr. SyCip that each of them will only have two children. We will certainly expect them to be honest, patriotic, caring, and passionate.

Thank you Meralco Foundation, the University of the Philippines, and the Board of Judges, for this great and distinct honor you have conferred on Synergeia, its partners, volunteers, and local government officials.

Mr. Sycip, our inspiration, our pillar, and strength, our family, friends of our summers, and friends of our winters, thank you for being with us all the way.

Maraming salamat po.