Our distinguished  members of the board of judges, esteemed members of the academe,  fellow students, beloved parents and friends, let’s face it, our society is in continuous retrogression, progress and prosperity are nowhere in sight. We have been in a socio-political and economic downward spiral for a long time. For such we have always looked for someone to blame, and so conveniently that we would point our accusing fingers to the people manning the different branches of the government.    But granting that all these troubles besetting us emanated from the failures of the government, why don’t we ask this question – Who is responsible in putting them in office? As the saying goes, “we deserve the leaders we elect.”

           But who should really be faulted? It is said that a nation is as good as its citizens. What the Philippines is now therefore is what we Filipinos made it to be and how we made it to be reflects the kind of education we received from the academe. Yes, as you would have noticed, the accusing fingers have been pointed to the academe. Why? Our performance as a nation reflects the kind of holistic transformation the educators in the academe have effected on their students.

           Why not scrutinize the kind of individuals or citizens who graduated from the academe? How true is it that the academe produced leaders who are perceived to be so power-hungry and corrupt? How true is it that the kind of citizens  who  emerged from the academe is the type who would throw their garbage anywhere they want, the type who would sell their votes to the highest bidders, and the self-centered type who simply do not care for others, much more for the country.

           If we will ask now the esteemed members of the academe, what went wrong?  Perhaps our educators have set the wrong priorities when it comes to the development of knowledge, skills and values, or may have forgotten entirely about values and just focused on knowledge and skills. In coping with the challenges of the time, the academe can not afford to just bombard the students with knowledge and compel them to acquire multiple skills. The students ought to imbibe values as well – values  that will enable them to put in proper perspective the knowledge and skills they acquire. And foremost of the values the academe should inculcate in the students are civic responsibility and faith in God.

          It is time for the academe to evaluate and refocus its thrusts and the BULPRISA can be at the forefront of this.