DR. EMERLINDA R. ROMAN Remarks 2nd Gawad Haydee Yorac Awarding Rites March 4, 2008, 5:30 P.M. Meralco Theatre

When Meralco came up with the idea of an award to be called the Gawad Haydee Yorac, to honor a woman who, in her own career, was the embodiment of principled courage and efficient public service, it invited the University of the Philippines to be its partner. We were happy to accept the invitation, because we are sharply aware of the need to offer young Filipinos effective role models who might serve as a counterforce to increasing cynicism and indifference.

Last year, the award was presented to Antonio Meloto, whose name is synonymous with Gawad Kalinga. And tonight we have come together again, to present the award to Dr. Milwida Guevara.

As I was writing my short message for tonight’s affair, uppermost in my mind, as I am sure it is in everyone else’s, was the protracted Senate probe into the controversial NBN-ZTE deal, the accelerating protest actions it has engendered, and the troubled days that awalt us as the process takes its course.

The crisis the nation finds itself once again trapped in, is deeper and more troubling than financial or political crises. It is, once again, a moral crisis: what is at stake is a people’s sense of self worth. It requires moral leadership of the sort that we seem to find ourselves seriously short of. The way we handle this crisis will imprint itself in the minds of all young Filipinos.

Which drives home the point of the urgent need for role models with impeccable credentials, like the woman we honor today. Like the woman after whom the award was named, Nene Guevara’s streling record as scholar, faithful public servant and indefatigable NGO leader, will stand the closest scrutiny. About her there need be no ambiguities and ambivalences, no apologies about a tainted past or “permissible zones of corruption”.

If we are to hold up a contemporary Filipino as a her, here is one we can hold up with pride: here is a person of genuine integrity who has dedicated her life, almost single-mindedly, to the national good. Indeed, the distinguished economist and columnist, Solita Collas-Monsod once referred to her as a “national treasure”.

As an educator myself, I am especially pleased with the choice, because of the excellent work that Dr. Guevara has done in the field of education, the integrative approach that guides her, and the ability she has of infecting her team with the same passion and commitment that drives her. Although my own is in the field of tertiary education, I am well aware of how important it is to lead through example, particularly when what you are asking of your team is nothing short of missionary zeal.

The Synergeia Foundation, which she founded, and is president and CEO of, is premised on the fact that the problem of the deteriorating quality of education cannot be solved in isolation. It is focused on delivering quality basic education through “collaborative responsibility,” by transforming local school boards into vehicles for effective community participation – involving not just the schools themselves, but families, community leaders, and local government officials.

In closing, I congratulate Dr. Nene Guevara for a richly deserved award; and I thank Meralco again, for choosing the University of the Philippines to be its partner in this understanding which I think does us both proud.

Maraming salamat po at mabuhay!