By Mr. Fluellen M. Ortigas
Mr. Fluellen M. Ortigas (AB Pol Sci ’68) delivers the Commencement Address.
(Delivered during the 92nd Graduation of the University Colleges, November 10, 2019, Rose Memorial Auditorium)
President Ted Robles, Members of the CPU Board, Officers and Members of the CPU Alumni Association, Honored Guests, My Treasured Friends, Graduating Class of 2019, Ladies and Gentlemen. 50 years ago, I left the hallowed halls of Central and went to Manila to face the challenge of the future as a 20-year-old fresh graduate armed with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Major in Political Science and a Minor in Philosophy. It was both an adventure and a search for identity. How would I fare in an environment completely different from young student living in 426 A Lopez Jaena Street, in a home along the “Riles”, a home by the side of the road where the race of men went by. A homegrown product of CPU, from Nursery, Kindergarten, Elementary. I was enrolled in elementary when I was five and a half years old (5 1/20) and was considered too young for High School if I went straight from Grade 6. Grade 7 was not mandatory, so I was one of the pioneer students enrolled in Grade 7 under Mrs. Chan. I enjoyed my Kindergarten (under Rebecca de Leon and Mrs. George ) and Elementary School Years but was always a student with excess energy which was a problem with some of my teachers. It was Mrs. Chan who was able to channel this excess energy with challenging assignments and using my verbalizalizing motivations to do reports and active recitations. Gardening and shop made me discover my interest in planting vegetables, soil fertilization building wood projects.
I do not intend to bore you with my narrative of how I grew up. I intend to give you however, a picture of my boyhood and a brief background of how Central helped and develop me to be who I am. My upbringing and the values instilled, strongly internalized in me made me survive many of the challenges in life, ranging from torture to six months in solitary confinement, or taking the Kumpit from Bonggao in Tawi Tawi and landing in Sandakan, Sabah, East Malaysia, a foreign land not knowing anyone and asked for asylum in the hope that I would be allowed to find sanctuary in the United States. Another such challenge also involved opening business relations in a foreign and strange country known only to many as Vietnam, not being able to speak the language and not knowing anyone landing alone in the airport in Hanoi with no one meeting you and no transportation. Worse, Vietnam was still under an International embargo, since the United States could not stand losing the war. These are just some of the few challenges I faced in life, where my values as a Centralian helped me not only to survive but eventually succeed. Persistence and the will to succeed is the most important strength that CPU had taught me.
What are the values I have learned and experienced from CPU which I learned to internalize, which helped me greatly, to meet the challenges, difficulties and learned to overcome. Let me share them with you, among them:
- Strength in belief, know where you stand and regardless of the consequences that come believe that you will finally overcome.
Remember the legendary Davy Crockett, who died at Alamo, he was best remembered for his motto “be sure you’re always right, then go ahead”. But remember knowing that the cause you stand for is just.
- Belief in your fellow men, which includes your friends, relatives, and mentors knowing that they fully understand makes you feel you are not alone in your fight.
As the saying goes, “Hindi ka nagiisa.” Sometimes, you should be prepared to give up your life. In a life and death situation, your commitment to friends, relatives, and the community demands that you make the Ultimate Sacrifice. I have been through that test. I am proud to know and that I have worked closely with Centralians who understood the commitment to friends and the community, making the Ultimate Sacrifice, among them, Edward de la Fuente, John de la Fuente, Vic Beloria, my brother Virgil Ortigas, Alex Gonzales, Pablo Fernandez, and others. Centralians who took up the cudgels of defending Freedom and Democracy during the dark days of Martial Law, it is also worth mentioning those who survived, although some are already gone but many are still alive. Let me mention them, Josil Jaen, former CPUR President Alan Zamora, Alex Castigador, Romulo, Legarde, David Diel, Boy Pestano and others who went to the frontlines and gave up everything to become one with the people in the struggle for Freedom and Democracy. Most of the names I have mentioned have been officially recognized as Heroes by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani and the Memorial Commission. I am proud to have known and worked with these Centralians who have held high the principles of CPU which was not only the love of God but also our Fellowmen as shown in Matthew 25: 35,36,37,38, 40 “If you fed the hungry, clothe the naked, …” After the First Quarter Storm, mass action Ilonggo veterans who were studying in Manila decided to organize in Iloilo to replicate the struggle in Manila. These core group of students organized what would later be known as the Federation of Ilonggo Students (FIST). This would be the forerunner of other mass organizations, KM, SDK, Masang Prop, Christians for National Liberation. Among the pioneering students and original founders were Antonio Tagamolila ( UP who died in Aklan), Jacinto Pena (UP died in Isabela), Rolando Llorca (Lyceum of the Philippines died in Aklan), Alberto Espinas (Lyceum of the Philippines who died in Antique) Pablito Araneta (UP), Concha Araneta (UP), Bebop Belicena (UP), Chippie Orendain (UE), myself (CPU UP) and local students which included Vicente Jalandoni (CPU), Francis Montfort (Univ. of San Agustin), Van Corteza (UP Iloilo), Ed Legislador (UP Iloilo died in Antique), Vic Beloria ( CPU died in San Joaquin), Josil Jaen (CPU), Boy Zamora (UP Iloilo) Quirico “Kiks” Villareal. Personally, believing in nationalist principles, which became the guideposts to pursue a clear vision and a mindset that all things are possible if there is a commitment to sacrifice. They believed it could bring a convergence of factors that could happen if the committed individual could consciously influence to make meaningful changes happen. One should be a catalyzer to make things happen and it should happen because there are those who not only believe in you as capable in making changes to our society, but also rely on you, as the committed person, for their safety, well-being and the uplift of the communities they live in.
As I look at you, graduates of class 2019, I can sense the excitement of having finally reach a major milestone in your life and the climax of your graduation. Tomorrow you will embark on your second milestone which is pursuing your potential career based on the academic discipline you chose. The success of your career building pursuit should now be fortified by the fundamental value of Belief in self coupled with a vision of service to the community so that individual success will always be measured by the positive impact in terms of its contribution to the people. As I ended my speech in 1968 when I accepted the Most Outstanding Student of the Philippines Award, I said: “Ideals are like stars, reaching for them but never touching them, but like a beacon guides a mariner to his destiny.” Vision becomes the foremost guarantee of your success because they become your guide and benchmarks for the measure of your success in how close it is bringing you to your goals in life.
The anxiety of looking at your future, as a fresh graduate, could create some degree of insecurity as you determine what lies ahead of you. This is expected. But remember the future is what you make of yourself. You are the mariner guiding yourself to your destiny. CPU provides you with a vast array of activities that complement your academic development in preparing you to have a variety of skills in surviving when you get liberated from academic life. The skills you have been offered vary according to the interests you pursue and you could choose drama, the Christian Youth Fellowship, sing in the choir, athletics, dance, be a part of Student Government, Math and Chemistry organizations, Men’s Glee Club and a host of extracurricular activities, with facilities which include a fully stocked library and a full service Radio TV Broadcasting facility supported by the University which is World Class and a pride for any academic institution.
It is with pride that I say that I am a product and an example of how effective the institutions of leadership and training by CPU helped me to navigate, survive and make good in a very complex world I had lived in and overcame the challenges faced.
Starting from Nursery to Kindergarten, Elementary (including Grade 7), High School and College all the classes and extracurricular activities I was exposed to were geared to produce the ideal CPU Student, be they songs or learning how to speak English with the right enunciation. The other factor worth mentioning was we also grew up with the sons of missionaries and this was good exposure to another culture and lifestyle which would later prove valuable to students who would be going to America. Whether it was going to Camp Higher Ground every summer or learning to read notes in the choir to eventually becoming a member of the Debating Team Coached by a Pastor (Luel Bacerra) or learning how to orate (coached by Ralph Dumaran). It made me realize and appreciate that I was learning skills that were not imposed but slowly absorbed as I advanced with age made tremendous strides and achievement. From a happy go lucky guy who never cared for anything except fun with friends both from the “riles” and in school I realized I could articulate very well in the English language and could communicate effectively. It was in my third year that I represented High School and won a gold medal in the University Day Extemporaneous Speaking Contest that I realized I had the talent for speech. I always thought of myself of being just a talkative student who always got into trouble with my teachers for disrupting classes. I never realized the evolutionary process of training in school, the interaction with my classmates and teachers helped me develop my gift of speech. The winning in the extemporaneous speech event propelled me into other things, foremost Campus Politics. Narciso Maravilla outgoing Governor of the High School Province asked me to be a Candidate for the Governorship of the Province. The rest was history, I won by a landslide and that started my career in Campus Politics, running for Senator of the Student Republic when I was only in my Second Year in College, then ran again for Senator in my third year and garnered the highest number of votes among winning candidates so became Senate President of the Student Republic, in 1969 I won a hotly campaigned election and became the President of CPUR. Even before I became CPUR President I had attended already various National Student Conferences, the participation which made me realize the CPU had really developed my leadership qualities as I confidently interfaced with students from UP, Ateneo, La Salle and other well-known Universities. I realized that CPU trained me well because I had stood and made outstanding contributions in these conferences. I was recognized and realized other student leaders sincerely believed and trusted me, which became the basis of closely working together and eventually becoming part of a network that would spearhead the struggle for democracy. The well-known organizations were the College Editors Guild, the National Union of Students and the National Student’s League.
The CPU experience brought two very important milestones in my life. They happened in 1968 and 1969. The first Milestone happened in May 1968 while I was attending the 7th Rizal Youth Leadership Training Institute held in Cebu City. I was informed by wire that I was to go to Manila to be interviewed by the Search Committee of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines. The Interview was Chaired by the Secretary of Education, Onofre Corpus, Jose Concepcion the Chairman of the Ten Outstanding Students, the Head of the Catholic Educators of the Philippines, to mention a few of the Search Committee members. There were 100 finalists from over 3,000 nominees from the different colleges and universities in the Philippines. Ten were to be selected to be the Ten Outstanding Students for 1968. The Search Committee selected me The Most Outstanding Student of the Philippines for 1968. At my acceptance speech in the Philamlife in Auditorium on June 19, 1968, I had the chance to meet Pres. Ferdinand Marcos who would eventually become my nemesis and had me imprisoned for four and a half years. The second Milestone was in 1969 when as Student Republic President I invited a Young and Dynamic Senator, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. to be the Guest Speaker for University Day. That occasion to meet and be with him on stage started a committed friendship which ended only he was assassinated in August 1983. I still am with him in spirit as I Memorialize his Martyrdom by attending every August 21 event at the Manila Memorial Park.
There would be other Milestones in my Life, my imprisonment at Fort Bonifacio where we dug a tunnel to escape to freedom but was discovered so I spent six months in Solitary Confinement. My escape from the Philippines through Sabah, East Malaysia and eventual relocation in the United States as a Refugee. I became part of the Movement for a Free Philippines with Raul Manglapus, Eugenio Lopez Jr., Steve Psinakis, Serge Osmena, Lorenzo “Tits” Tanada Jr., Jake Lopez and many other Filipino Americans. From there we continued the struggle until the overthrow of Marcos. On February 23, 1986, together with Jerrold Garcia (CPU Alumnus) and 22 others, we filed the first Human Rights case against Marcos led by the famous Tort Lawyer, Melvin Belli Jr., in the Sala of Judge Real in Hawaii. The rest was history, an international hold order was imposed freezing all known Marcos assets around the world.
In closing, let me again congratulate the Graduating Class of 2019 and my appreciation to Dr. Robles for giving me the chance to go back to my roots again, my Beloved CPU and share my narrative which I hope can inspire and guide as you make your own individual struggles. To all my friends thank you for coming and remembering together with me the good times that we shared in CPU and Iloilo. Our generation’s time is coming to a close and it is our duty to share our experiences and lessons learned in the hope that it can help the younger generation succeed in life. Thank you and all the best.