Speech delivered before 200 student leaders from the best universities in the Philippines

1. NATION YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
AND RESPONSIBLE CITIZENSHIP AS
KEYS TO NATION BUILDING
17 November 2012
FEU Auditorium
Anna Bella SIRIBAN-MANALANG

2. THE GREATEST LAST PLACE
FINISH EVER
 Out of the darkness he came, John Stephen Akhwari of
Tanzania, entered at the far end of the stadium, pain hobbling
his every step, his leg bloody and bandaged. The winner of
the Olympic marathon had been declared an hour earlier.
Only a few spectators remained. But the lone runner pressed
on.
 As he crosssed the finish line, the small crowd roared out its
appreciation. Afterward, a reporter asked th erunner why he
retired from the race, sinc ehe had no chance of wining. He
seemed confused by the question. Finally, he answered:

3. • “My country did not send
me to Mexico City to start
the race. They sent me to
finish.”

4. FALLACIES
• Lose your identity to be accepted (Genesis 1:26)
• Work 25 hours a day to get job done (Exodus 35:2A)
• Undermine others to be promoted (Psalm 75:6-7)
• Be fair-skinned to be beautiful (1 Samuel 16:7B)
• Brown-nose to get ahead ((Proverbs 22:29)
• Work overseas to prosper (1 Corinthians 7:20)

5. PRINCIPLES
• Invest in knowledge (Proverbs 4:7)
• Sow good seed (Galatians 6:7)
• Respect authority (Romans 13:1)
• Love your country (Proverbs 13:24)
• Work to live, not the other way (Haggai 2:4B)
• Be filled with God ideas; thank Him always (Psalm 111:10)

6. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens
JOSE RIZAL
He paved the way for nation-building when he
did all that he can for his countrymen – from
publishing books and poems to awaken their
consciousness to the occurrences during the
Spanish Era to physically serving those who were
fortunate enough to have met him during his
short life. He died by firing squad, not for naught.
He is Jose Rizal, the inspiration behind the Ten
Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP), a
search founded by businessman Jose
Concepcion, Jr., while he was still publishing
Student Life Magazine.

7. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens
Si Jesse Manalastas Robredo ay isang
politikong Pilipino na naglingkod bilang Kalihim
JESSE ng Kagawaran ng Interyor at Pamahalaang
Lokal (DILG) sa administrasyon ni Pangulong
ROBREDO Benigno Aquino III mula 2010 hanggang sa
kanyang kamatayan ngayong 2012.
Simula noong 1988, naglingkod nang anim na
taning si Robredo bilang alkalde ng Lungsod ng
Naga sa Camarines Sur, mula 1988 hanggang
1998, at muli mula 2001 hanggang 2010,
noong siya'y ipinili ni Pangulong Aquino bilang
Kalihim ng Interyor at Pamahalaang Lokal.
Bilang pagkilala sa kaniyang tungkulin bilang
alkalde ng Lungsod ng Naga, ginawaran si
Robredo ng Gawad Ramon Magsaysay para sa
Panunungkulan sa Pamahalaan noong 2000,
ang unang alkalde mula sa Pilipinas na
ginawaran ng ganitong parangal.

9. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens
Jose Concepcion Jr. • Associate Degree in Commercial Science from De La Salle
University
• Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture major in Soils from the
Araneta Institute of Agriculture
• Founder of the NAMFREL
• former Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Trade
and Industry under the administration of the late former
President Corazon C. Aquino.
• Married to Maria Victoria Araneta in 1957 and was
blessed with eight (8) children.
•
1st work experiences started Assistant Manager rising to become the President and
COO of Republic Flour Mills (RFM) in 1965, a position which he held until 1986.
Under his leadership RFM diversified into animal feed milling, poultry and livestock
which they further expanded and acquired the license from Swift, the U.S. Food
Company to manufacture its processed meats in the Philippines. RFM Group of
Companies further diversified into other fields of business such as real estate,
semiconductors, and banking, until it became one of the largest food and beverage
companies in the Philippines.

10. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens
• As a civic leader, his principal crusade in
• He also launched the (Yes the Filipino
the 60's was the formation of the Pasay
Can) movement, which seeks to
Citizens League for Good Government. He challenge every Filipno to make a
was elected in 1971 as delegate to the difference by taking positive and
Constitutional Convention representing constructive action in his own
the first district of Rizal and in 1983 he community. He is also a founding
organized the National Citizens Movement organizer of the ASEAN Chambers of
for Free Election (NAMFREL) a voluntary, Commerce and Industry (ASEAN-CCI)
non-partisan and community-based in 1975. Despite his many activities
organization. An active Jaycees having national and regional, he still serves
as the Punong Barangay of Forbes
been one of the founders of Capitol
Park, Makati City, and actively
Jaycees. He is also one of the founding involved in the advocacy to ensure
member of the Bishop-Businessmen that the coco-levy funds will benefit
Conference for Human Development the coconut farmers and the coconut
(BBC) in 1975 wherein he became the inductry, as well as, one of the
National Co-Chairman from 1993 until members of the Board of Advisers of
2003. While as DTI Secretary, he organized the Green Army, which promotes
what is now know as (One-Stop-Shop) for national awareness on environmental
business permit and licenses and protection.
established the (People Economic
Council.)

11. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens
Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award sponsored by
Ernst & Young, Inc. magazine and Merrill Lynch Business
Financial Services. He has been on Forbes Midas List for at
least four years running. Dado received the highly respected
Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which is awarded to U.S. citizens
who contribute significantly to an ethnic group or country.
The Asian Business League of San Francisco bestowed its
Distinguished Asian Leadership Award upon him for his
leadership skills in the public, private and non-profit sectors
of the community. For his tireless efforts in spreading the
importance of preserving and promoting the Philippines,
President Fidel V. Ramos presented Dado with
the Pamana Ng Filipino Award.
Funder of DOST Engineering Research Devt for Technology
(ERDT)

12. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens
Both Filipinos, Dado and his wife Maria are passionate
about giving back to the country. They funded a
fellowship grant for computer science and engineering
faculty from the University of the Philippines to
collaborate on research programs with counterpart
professors at UC Berkeley on the Berkeley Campus.
Through the Asian Pacific Fund, they have provided
scholarships to assist California high school students
of Filipino heritage in pursuing a college education in
science and engineering, a field which Filipinos are
currently under-represented. Through their personal
vision and strong encouragement as well as their
thoughtful guidance and generous philanthropy, they
are enabling young people with talent to transform
their lives and, quite literally, to make the world a
better place.

13. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens

14. Nationbuilders: Responsible
Citizens

15. Why nation building?
• a constructive process of engaging all citizens in building social
cohesion, economic prosperity and political stability in an inclusive
and democratic way.
• It is important to note that the priceless resource of any country is its
human resource. There is no other resource that matches the human
being, because mankind is the foundation or the corner stone of any
development and civilization.
• Out of the human intellect a nation is built. This can be confirmed by
the fact that many countries are able to attain steady growth and
development with limited natural resources through the intelligence
of their people and the labour force.

16. Why empower the young?
• Young people are a crucial segment of a nation's
development.
• Young people are social actors of change and as
the saying goes "youth are not only the leaders of
tomorrow, but also the partners of today. ''

17. On analyzing the
behavior of the people
in rich & developed
countries, we find that
the great majority
follow the following
principles in their
lives (Unknown Author):
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

18. 1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect to the rights of
other citizens.
6. Work loving.
7. Strive for saving &
investment.
8. Will of super action.
9. Punctuality.
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

19. If you love your
country, let us
CHANGE, and ACT
Help build our
country together!!
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

20. TIPS FOR ACTION TOWARDS
NATIONBUILDING
1.Personal Excellence
2.Intra personal Relationship
skills building
3.National Perspective
4.Global Perspective
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

21. Personal Excellence
1.Seek healing from your
dysfunctional past
2.Be untrapped from your vows
and “angst” about life
3. The world does not revolve
around you! But you were
specially made for God
NATION-BUILDING AT TACT 2008

22. Personal Excellence
4. Do personal strategic
planning
5. Know your calling, Let the
Lord build your house
(Psalm 127:1)
6. Choose your spouse well,
one who fears & loves God and is pure of heart
90% of your joys and sorrows depend on
your choosing a spouse
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

23. Intra personal Relationship skills building
1. Accept yourself and
celebrate your strengths
2.Develop charismagic
leadership
3.Involve people in your work
and mentor when you can
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

24. Intra personal Relationship skills building
4.Invest and install loyal friends who will be
your support and accountability system in
life
5. Build the people around you. Develop
close and nurturing familial environment
in your family, lineage & community
NATION-BUILDING AT TACT 2008

25. National Perspective
1. Treat every person or stranger you meet with
respect, courtesy and brotherly love
2. Build their self-image
3. Follow rules, laws, pay your taxes
4. Learn public shame and teach this too to your
children
5. Get involved in community volunteer work
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

26. National Perspective
6. Know that for every Filipino working abroad, a family is
home here missing a parent or a sibling ; Seek to
employ them if and when you can, by going into
business
7. When in business, give them decent salary;
Build them up ; educate them; be their
parent; You are responsible for them (The
covenant of the rich with the poor! Ruth )
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

27. National Perspective
8. Seek levelling interventions in the “success
to the successful” trap
eg. Study now, pay later program
To create a ladder of success for them
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

28. Global Perspective
1. Be the counterpart in the Philippines for
the Millenium Development Goals
Be part of the growth
(http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2006/MDGRep
ort2006.pdf)
2. We are global citizens and we can help
sustain the earth; know your science,
undertand your subjects; apply all you
learn
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

29. Global Perspective
3. Go green in all our undertakings; throw
garbage properly; encourage everyone
to help keep our environment safe,
clean and sustainable
Tell everyone about what they need to
do to help avert ill effects of
climate change & environmental
unsustainable path
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

30. Conclusion
No one can love this country
more than the Filipino!
If not us, who will?
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

31. Conclusion
My challenge to you today is this:
Stay in the country.
Even if you go abroad, be the best Filipino you can ever be
BUT pls. Come back!!!
It would mean sacrifice financially as you are still trying to find yourself.
But make your life count for the country.
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

32. Conclusion
A country can only be
great if it has great
people!
Be great!
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS

33. Summary
• LOVE YOURSELF
• LOVE OTHERS
• LOVE YOUR NATION
• LOVE GOD
NATION-BUILDING AT YOUTH HOURS