by Cito Lorenzo

(Speech delivered during the GK Builders Night on July 7, 2010, Rockwell Tent, Makati City)

This is probably my biggest challenge, because it will be the first time I will be speaking to family and genuine friends, more than the curious, in one venue, committed to building our nation through the Gawad Kalinga movement. Tonight, I wanted to make sure, that what I will share will have take home value from our time together, that we plant seeds in our hearts for those who are new, or nurture those already planted who have been with GK for some time.

I would like to thank you all for coming tonight, for you chose to be here instead of attending to many other priorities that keep us busy. This means the world to me. Like many of you who have been at the pinnacle of power and tasted its prestige and privilege, who realize that when the titles have gone and the dust settles, true wealth is measured not in the number of zeros added to our bank accounts, the honors we have received when wearing the titles, nor the material things one collects; but the number of sincere and genuine friends one makes. You are all my friends…in this regard, I feel grateful.

Let me start by telling you that I have come to realize that keeping a low profile while doing good is gratifying because its authentic and sincere, so once again, being thrust into the limelight this evening is a different kind of challenge because the purpose is not to call attention to myself but rather as your friend, to share the insights I have gained in my interior journey towards self-realization.

Once again, our paths intersect. I lived in North America these past five years shortly after leaving government. This self exile was done for personal and professional reasons brought about by a confluence of people and events.

Bereft of the trappings of power, the humility I underwent and the relative simplicity I chose to live my life while travelling the United States in the service of GK and other noble causes, often being chased off stages because people preferred to sing or dance, allowed me the opportunity to get to the core of who I was and answer for myself what counts in life…family, faith and country. It also gave me an insight into the great leaders and the statesmen of the world, past and present, as it allowed me to meet people of different backgrounds, accomplished in the ways of man, regardless of gender, color, political persuasion, and creed. It allowed me the opportunity to view the evolving events of our country from afar, objectively detached but still connected, quietly supporting causes that and people whom were deserving of help. I no longer am the gladiator willing to jump into the fray without giving it too much thought, but one who disciplined himself into thinking through the value of actions taken and the corresponding consequences of these actions. The isolation was good because it afforded me the gift for mental and moral introspection. For example, I now realize that as a leader, every person is not a statistic to be used but a human being…and regardless of his or her station in life he or she deserves our attention, compassion and concern by bringing out the best in him/her as an individual. For it is in building people that we truly build our nation.

Yesterday, we were welcomed home with threats and innuendos to recall past misdeeds by others. Please remember, my family and I are also the victims here and despite our greatest fears, we have chosen to come home because we love our country. I am here to build and not to destroy, to uplift and not to find fault, not to criticize, nor to bash, but to identify what is best in the Filipino and likewise learn to use what is good from other countries to make us even stronger…to grow a nation through hope and the resolute faith that we will make it happen.

In our family’s darkest moments over the last seven years, in the GK parlance of walang iwanan, hindi kami iniwan ng pamilya ng GK. They have been our strength and they have taught us to love our country more.

Gawad Kalinga introduced me to the deepest struggles of the poorest of the poor of our country. After 7 years of painstaking work, they have impacted the lives of thousands of Filipinos, building homes, communities, and alliances of assistance. The GK workers continue to sacrifice their lives to serve. Like you perhaps, I feel very thankful to have witnessed this brave and noble initiative to address our country’s most pressing problem of POVERTY. At this stage, however, I realized that the need of the poor goes much further and deeper than building homes. These GK villages have families with children and teenagers who yearn for a better future…a better life! While most of their parents had to submit to themselves not finishing school, these GK parents now aspire for a better future for their children. The children and youth themselves want a better future because of the new hope in their lives. These children are no longer just like any other because they now come from GK families and communities that have a new outlook and a stronger set of values of giving and sharing, love and sacrifice.

Last Sunday, I visited a new GK village being developed in Macabebe, Pampanga…and met 2 groups of youth, one from Singles for Christ, and the other beneficiaries of a private foundation of a GK partner offering scholarships called Prayers for Day Foundation. Watching the innocent faces and the energies in these youth, hungry for guidance and hope, I was shaken by the realization that there must be many more of these young children coming from both the beneficiary communities and the caretaker families whose future depends on us…the older generation. I also met groups of very young children who came from the most depressed communities in Macabebe singing and dancing out their prayers in the heat of the sun, but very happy. Questions came to mind like are we just going to allow these children to flow back into the system without extra help? Are we to allow them to continue to apply to become household help, entertainers or construction workers here or abroad because they have no education beyond grade school or high school? These are the children who need our help to build a better future.

Before strategizing, we must take a good look at the Filipino worker today. At his very best the Filipino worker is loyal, makatao, service oriented, and persevering…which is why he excels at the nursing, caretakers, call centers, and seamen professions. He is unfazed by hardships, and values human relationships always with a smile. His weakness, however, is to settle to be led by and obey whomever is more established because he lacks the self confidence to stake out on his own. This speaks of our children’s challenge but also their opportunity today and through GK which believes in the principle of subsidiarity, the cry is to build self-reliance in our youth…both the youth coming from our GK villages, and the youth of our universities.

Given the potentials and the goal of self-reliance, what can we as businessmen, professionals, and civic leaders do to help?

First, we must challenge the boundaries that keep our young people poor; to break through the glass ceiling that has conditioned him to believe that his or her highest aspiration is defined by the shanty that he lives in. Second, we must develop an entrepreneurial spirit among the youth – to inspire him to create value by making something from nothing. And lastly, we have to allow them to aim for greatness, to have pride and faith in self because God made no man second class in this world.

In a more concrete form, we can do this by increasing the scholarships for our poor but deserving students to at least 20% of the student population in the best universities here in Metro Manila and in the provinces. Second, we must train teachers, mentor graduates, and assist in their dreams to be business owners rather than employees. Third, we must encourage more business-inclined youth of our leading universities to embark on more “social entrepreneurship” projects that include a major component that shall benefit the poor. Fourth, those of us with the means can partner with financial institutions to provide the needed working capital to make them succeed. Let us support the GK Enchanted Farms Institute in Angat, Bulacan as a business training university and the GK entrepreneurial center so that these young entrepreneurs will not fall prey to unscrupulous predators in our system and instead learn to do business honestly. Most importantly, they must learn that business is about making sure that no one is left behind.

These last five years, Malen and I have lived in the United States to be with our four children, two of whom are studying to be priests and the other two studying in top ranked Catholic schools. Malen herself is completing her PHD in clinical psychology and sociology, and already has a long list of people she is healing. In my absence, I have rediscovered a deep longing and love for our country, and Gawad Kalinga was my expression. We are back because we have come to realize, through this work, that the poor are our family, their children are also our children, and they deserve the same quality education that our children now enjoy. My wife and I, and the rest of our family, are fully committed to this mission.

And I hope all my friends will also provide the means to empower these children and consider this noble cause. For most of us, we have run the race and finished ahead, but alone. Now we see our children running the same race, but recognize that we must help them cross that finish line, but this time, with as many others. It is in finishing the race together that we can build a bright future for everyone. Thank you very much and good evening.