Mom gave her speech last March 29, 2014. Here is a repost of her speech which was published on the Ateneo de Manila website here: http://www.admu.edu.ph/news/commencement-address-ma-filomena-legaspi-rosales-sose-soss-commencement-2014 on April 7, 2014.
The video complements the speech so I'll post the video once I get a copy. Ateneo said that she was the first commencement speaker to give an address with video.
The photos are mine :D
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| Atty. Ma Filomena "Nena" Legaspi-Rosales |
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| Ateneo de Manila University Commencement Exercise 2014 |
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| Atty. Nena Legaspi-Rosales waiting to be called for her address |
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| Atty. Ma Filomena "Nena" Legaspi-Rosales gives her commencement address with video |
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| Mom receives the 2nd Rizal statue for the family but in her own right (first one was for Dad's Lux in Domino Award) |
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| Ateneo President Fr. Jett Villarin with Atty. Ma Filomena "Nena" Legaspi Rosales and Jollibee CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong. |
Atty. Ma. Filomena “Nena” Legaspi-Rosales delivered the commencement address during the commencement ceremonies of the School of Science and Engineering and the School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University, on March 29, 2014.
Atty. Rosales was among the first women to enroll in the Ateneo, graduating with a BA, Major in Communications in 1976 and subsequently pursuing a law degree at the Ateneo Law School. Since then, she has dedicated her career to leadership and service for the community and the nation.
Among other involvements, she has served in the Presidential Commission on Good Government and the Commission on Human Rights. She has also been actively involved in community government, serving as barangay secretary and barangay captain of Dasmariñas Village in Makati. She also practices law with the Legaspi Rosales Law Office and is a housing developer in her home province of Aklan. She is currently the president of the Ateneo Law Alumni Association.
The text of her address follows.
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Reverend Fr. Jett Villarin, distinguished members of the Board of Trustees, Reverend Fathers of the Society of Jesus, my dear graduates, my dear fellow parents and classmates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
It is with great honor that I speak to the graduating class of the Ateneo de Manila School of Social Sciences and School of Science and Engineering.
In preparation for this moment, I met with a group of student leaders I was amazed with how life at the Ateneo has changed since the 70s. Back then there were a few orgs – AIESEC, ACIL, CASA, TANGHALAN ATENEO and some others. But now, I don’t think it’s possible to keep track of all the activities this campus had to offer you.
While some other things have changed, many others have stayed the same. The fears these students expressed were the same ones I faced.
1. Is the Ateneo education enough to face the future?
2. Are there any assurances that everything will be okay?
3. Can I make a difference in the Philippines or should I be on the path of making the mega-bucks?
4. If I choose a path of nation-building, is it fair to my parents who have spent so much for an Atenean education? Will they support my dreams to help people – to help our nation?
I struggled with these thoughts and lost many nights of sleep. But as one of only 24 female graduates of the 1976 batch of Ateneo, my story may seem a bit odd to a school now dominated by women. This year we are celebrating only the 40th anniversary of the year Ateneo opened its doors to ladies but I’m sure many of the men here can’t imagine a college experience without us.
Let me take you a little farther back into my past and my personal journey as a female in a patriarchal household. My father served as a diplomat in three countries for over a decade. I spent many of my formative years being shuffled from one country to another. We would vacation here and we would also come back home each time a sibling was to be born although one brother was born in japan. My father, being the patriot that he was, insisted that we all be born here. So we grew up thinking we were thoroughly Pinoy.
Eventually, we permanently settled back to the Philippines. But we were in for quite a culture shock (and not in the way that some of you would imagine). The shock referred to our own father.
Dad transformed himself from the happy, cool, beach-going type of a father to what I later learned was a typical Filipino father – the breadwinner, domineering and controlling. The Philippine setting and culture transformed Dad from Bruce Banner to the HULK.
His victory as Congressman of Aklan repressed the warm and welcoming smile of a diplomat and ushered in the strong hand of a traditional public servant. He became distant and very strict, especially over the women in the family. Mom, my sister, and I felt imprisoned by Dad’s new career - PUBLIC SERVICE.
The patriarchs weren’t all that bad though. We found respite in our British-bred grandfather. He was a voracious reader and very broad-minded. Everyday, he pounded into my head a reminder … no … a creed that being a woman was not a limitation to becoming whatever I wished to be. He encouraged me to drive. He taught me how to type. He even backed me up when I got my first job- you see my parents were totally against my working outside of the family. These tasks must not seem too outrageous to your generation but at that time I was expected to go to finishing school, get married and raise a family. So driving and typing was as rebellious as leaving your family to join Green Peace.
My life was that of the typical eldest daughter of a politician and this was the life many expected me to continue. I would accompany my father to all sorts of events, such as baptisms, weddings, and even funerals.
This is not to belittle the work of a political family; there is great opportunity to do a lot of good work. Like when the Ruby Tower collapsed in 1968. (For those too young to know about the Ruby Tower – the Ruby Tower was one of the first condos or multistorey residential buildings in Manila.) A strong 7.6 magnitude earthquake brought it down and many families were killed.
My mother, and other congressional wives, immediately set out to help serve the meals to the volunteers who were digging through the rubble for survivors. She brought me along since it was my duty to help. But the trauma of seeing so many dead bodies, especially little children, haunted me for some time.
Yet despite all the real life experiences that my parents threw me into you’d be surprised to find out that my Dad was my first obstacle to studying at the Ateneo.
I could not help but wonder why.
Was it fear of my being with the boys?
Or was it fear of my transformation into a snob like the Atenistas he knew?
He hinted that the Ateneo education would simply encourage my “hard headedness.” (Forgive him, he came from the school down the road.)
My grandfather’s creed echoed and I rallied against my own father to enter the exclusive world of the privileged blue boys club of Loyola in 1973. I felt like the first woman on the moon and told myself that “this is one big step for Nena, one giant leap for all Filipinas.”
In my first semester, I enjoyed learning from the wide variety of personalities. We had the strict professors like Mrs. Santos (our version of your Fr. Dacanay). But we also had explosively creative lecturers like Laurice Guillen, and Badong Bernal (think Dave Lozada and Ambeth Ocampo). They were experts in their fields of communication.
But most importantly (to me) was the head of the Communication Arts Department – Fr. Alberto V. Ampil – a Jesuit through and through who welcomed me into this new world. His particular role in my story comes a bit later.
These professors gave me what I was searching for the limitless opportunity to learn.
I would like to claim that this is why I spent most of my free time either at the library or the ladies lounge. But, as Fr. Bert is my witness, aside from the fact that my parents made it clear that I was not allowed to leave the Loyola campus. But more importantly, I could not even go to the canteen or stay at the quadrangle because I felt too embarrassed by the stares or teasing by the older guys of the campus. (Awkward!)
Even with these insecurities, I always wound up the class beadle or leader. I flourished as I was pushed to see brilliant and weird ideas reach its unlikely ends.
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression, my life in Loyola wasn’t all self-discovery and blue roses. Rising above my own insecurities was one thing, getting the boys to see beyond my gender was another.
After many semesters of relentless teasing, all it took was a BIC ball pen. You see, we had a communications professor who just loved to tell green jokes. The guys got a kick at looking at me blush and teased me about my pagka-neneng.
When I couldn’t take any more of his dirty jokes, I “accidentally” threw a ball pen at my teacher. Luckily I missed his cheek by an inch. “PATAY!” I thought that was it. I was going to either fail the subject or get kicked out of school or both. To my surprise, the green jokes stopped and I was even given a high grade by the teacher. (Fr. Jett, sorry. Let me clarify to the Class of 2014, I do NOT advocate any violence against your teachers. As I mentioned earlier, this was a completely different time different century!
In spite of childish misbehavior and my father’s misgivings, I expected to graduate in 1976. Like you, I was so excited. I even had a dress made for the occasion.
Then came the kicker, a few weeks before my graduation, I was called to the Registrar’s office. There was a glitch in the evaluation of the required units I had to complete. I could not graduate because I had to complete a mere two units.
I was so angry. I was assured that I had completed all the required courses and so I even enrolled in two unnecessary electives that semester imagine I took Chinese Philosophy.
This is where beloved Fr. Bert came in. He instructed me to prepare my position paper to defend my right to graduate. All that pressure was taking its toll on me, I felt beaten. But Fr. Bert told me to imagine myself on a beautiful mountain side – just a few inches away from the mountain top. He told me to keep my eyes locked on to the top of the mountain and just believe. After all, as Ateneans, we believe!
I took his advice and happily it worked out. At that point, I did not foresee that that incident marked my future as a lawyer. But I did foresee that I would need Fr. Bert all throughout my life. He became my spiritual adviser in all matters, including choosing my husband.
Studying at the Ateneo allowed me to spread my wings. The weight of gender-specific expectations was shed and I was immersed in the Atenean education. It also equipped me with the basic tools to be what I wanted to be. At that time, I wanted to work away from Dad’s politics.
Though I did not become a blue snob, my Daddy’s fears of my independence of mind became a reality. Those years also debunked his other belief that only the boys had the right to have ambition and to be leaders in the family and in life.
The Ateneo education made it clear that life is all about choices – we can choose to be comfortable with ourselves and our situation or we can choose to step out and take a risk into the greater world.
Law vs. Communication Arts
With that ordeal over and done with I thought I was set for life. But a year after my graduation, my Dad began pressuring me to enter his beloved alma mater – U.P. Law. I knew this was coming and I prepared.
Justice Pompeyo Diaz once said, “if you cannot learn the law, take music.” I definitely cannot sing, so I took up law.
Before Dad could register me in U.P. I showed him my acceptance letter to the best law school in the Philippines – the Ateneo de Manila School of Law and agreed to study law on the condition that I would be allowed to continue my Jesuit education while working at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
(On a side note, did you know that the Ateneo Law School went coed as early as 1967? The first female bar topnotcher was Atty. Natividad B. Kwan Class of 1975. She was the second placer with a grade of 86.75.)
Working while studying law was a new challenge. Very different from breaking into the boys club of Loyola with the creativity and ingenuity fostered in Communication Arts.
Law school trains men and women for battle in the legal arena. It demands the discipline of the mind and the body. Verbatim memorization, time pressured recitations, and brain twisting questions that belittled one’s seeming intelligence or lessened whatever confidence you thought you had, were nerve wracking games we had to survive on a daily basis.
There were times when being a woman was a definite advantage in law school. A few professors believed it to be chivalrous to give the women a second chance to redeem themselves in recitation. But for the most part, there was no gender distinction in law school - we were all equals. The rule of survival was simple – you either know the law or you don’t.
It was all worth it though. Ateneo Law School does not just train lawyers, it transforms men and women into lawyers with a passion for justice.
This transformation did not affect just me; it touched my hardened father as well.
A few years after becoming a lawyer, my Dad was set for a bypass operation. Out of nowhere we had an unusual heart-to-heart talk.
He expressed his pride in the woman and mother I had become and took comfort in the knowledge that should anything happen to him, I was ready to take care of my entire clan. He trusted that his little girl had grown into a woman who could lead. A role I never imagined he would consider for me.
He died a month after. Our clan, our province, and most especially our family lost the pillar holding all of us up. I found myself handling the details that comes with the death of a loved one – not just the burial details but life after Dad.
Journey of a Widow
Life after Dad was cushioned by the fact that my husband helped me face all the challenges my family had to endure. My husband, Butch was a great friend, my soul mate, and most importantly a very good and loving father to Vic and Lala. On June 10, 2004, Judge Voltaire Antonio Ylagan Rosales was ambushed at Tanauan, Batangas. Our two children were 19 and 18 when he was killed and both were studying here majoring in Political Science.
Once again I was thrust into high gear and thrown into another situation with innumerable dangerous unknowns. But I could not let fear take its grip, I needed to see justice served.
I was pushed and pulled in all directions. From one side, constant threats were hurled my way if I filed the cases against the killers. While on the other side, the judges who were assigned to hear the case asked me not to antagonize the syndicate for fear of losing their own lives too.
In the midst of the confusion, I looked to the institution that taught me to THINK. I sought the advice of the Dean Emeritus of the College of Law, Fr. Joaquin Bernas. I needed to listen to a voice of law that had a conscience.
After listening to Fr. B (or was it after I did all the talking?), I knew I had to pursue the case against the murderers. I will not allow my husband to be another statistic of the Supreme Court.
I did not and could not accept that being killed in the line of duty was something all judges or justices must accept as part of the dangers of delivering justice in our society.
Fr. B did not imbibe me with some sort of blue force field, the Jesuits (even with a pope on their side) are not that strong. There were still many times that I would tremble in fear for my children and I. But as a Jesuit, Fr. B did remind me that after all is said and done the lasting source of strength was prayers - calling to a higher being.
Those years of investigating the details of the murder, securing witnesses, and the trial per se were a frenzy of horrifying events. I had minimal practice in criminal law but I knew that I had to assist and even provide protection for the three prosecutors who were assigned to the case. I sought out my inner “SHERLOCK HOLMES” and pursued all leads. I would meet witnesses in the places they felt safe under the cover of night.
I really don’t know how I survived the battles against depression and despair but believed my husband and the Lord was with me every single scary crazy moment. Whether I knew it at the time or not, God sent his messengers through my family and good friends to help me through this journey.
Life as a Public Servant
After years of avoiding my father’s shadow in politics, working on my husband’s case dragged me right back under it. In 2007, I was elected the Barangay Captain of Dasmariñas Village, Makati City.
On the day I was to take my oath before then Mayor Jejomar C. Binay Sr. in his office at the 25th floor, one of my husband’s murderers was sentenced to life imprisonment on the 10th floor at the Makati Regional Trial Court. I usually received notices for such occurrences like clockwork, yet in this one momentous occasion nary a whisper reached my ears. It was as if someone had made sure that beginning that day I would move beyond my anger and grief and focus on the service of others.
In my first week on the job, a driver died in his sleep. Being the Barangay Captain I was immediately called to the scene and had to wait for the Scene of Crime Officer SOCO (our homegrown CSI) to arrive. Since my tanod froze and could not take pictures of the dead - I had to step up. During my two terms as a Barangay Captain, Murder, robbery, rape, arson, bomb threats would crop up here and there. I was deep in the practice of law – law enforcement that is.
On a lighter side of public service, we had fun events like the fiesta, bingos and dinner dances. I also provided seminars on skills training, value formation, disaster readiness, and even estate planning to help all residents both rich and the kasambahay.
But my greatest challenge was changing the mindset of the uber rich towards the less fortunate. Although many of them are devout daily mass going Catholics, they could not accept the presence of the kasambahay during the Barangay projects. To them, events for the rich should be distinguished from events for the kasambahays.
I would patiently explain that the Barangay does not distinguish the rich from the poor. I stood my ground and soon enough the majority accepted the kasambahay as part of the community. This was probably the best product of my grief.
In my darkest moments, I was led to witness the transformation of a community. I was led to see beyond my sorrow and live a life for others.
The New Stage of Life
Living a life for others isn’t limited to the realm of public office. In the last Barangay election of 2013, I chose not to run for my last term. Personal circumstances had changed and I decided to leave the barangay in the capable hands of my fellow council members.
A decade of public service, had helped me integrate the threads of personal tragedies to produce a tapestry of triumph.
So to assuage the terror that may be gripping some of you:
Allow me to assure you whether you are part of the top 10% of the batch or you just made the minimum QPI, as graduates of the Ateneo de Manila University you are all assured a place in the Philippine community. Choose your own path! Whether it be as a entrepreneur or as a welcomed employee or even a breakout executive? It’s up to you. I was not limited by my gender; you should not limit yourself by your fears.
You were given the basics and have the inner confidence (or strength of the inside –in other words lakas loob) needed to succeed. Do not allow ridicule or fear of failure and the unknown steer your path. This is the 21st century – you have knowledge at the tips of your fingers. Knowing is just the first step – going out into the world and making new friends and going through new experiences completes the education you received here at the Ateneo.
Tomorrow you start with a clean slate in life – start with excitement and gratitude to your parents and most importantly to the Lord that you have reached this moment in your life. Do not worry about what may come, the challenges you may face, the job you have to apply for. Being an Atenista is a brand name just like Chanel or Louie Vuitton but better - because it is a brand name grounded in knowledge and elevated by faith..
Will your job be one of nation-building or making megabucks? But for those of you called to serve, bless you a thousand fold. You are the few who have chosen to take the path less traveled, embrace your desired vocation in life and pursue it. We need leaders with values.
Too often is the noise of fighting corruption, expose of misused public funds PDAF/DAP or what have you is used to score PR points with voters. Your sincere desire to serve the people is the greatest gift to your countrymen. We need more young people with faith in the future to help our nation stand tall. Unfortunately, we oldies seem to be to full of complaints and negative attitudes. Please answer the call to be our country’s future.
As a parent, we only want the best for our children. I understand their objections. My husband and I did not jump into the train to wealth and success. We were both into public service and for several years it was a great struggle. But since I had the business acumen, we figured it out together. Of course, there were moments when we envied our friends for their material comforts, but then we would remind each other that we must “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all these things shall be added.”
Believe that God is the greatest career planner and the best provider in life. What you may lose in terms of capacity to buy a designer bag or a sports car, will be returned to you many times over as you give hope to many people in our country through your life’s commitment.
So parents of the graduates of 2014, please keep an open mind and heart for the plans of your children and support them in their journey.
Is there any assurance that you will be ok? Whether your next step is entering a new school all over again or facing a tragedy that takes away your own pillars, have faith that these four, five, six, years in Ateneo has transformed you into a person ready and strong enough to evolve with each new challenge.
When you feel afloat, lost in a sea of possibilities trace your steps back to Loyola and recall the simple fact that we were are all children of God. As our father, He loves us and wants us to be happy.
We may be imperfect beings, “works in progress.” But this only means that our potential is beyond our own imaginations. It is up to each one of us to use every experience, the good and the bad, to mold ourselves into better persons.
Sometimes, there seems to be an avalanche of bad things that lead you to believe you are a LOSER. Be kind to yourself. Remember that it is all part of the learning curve. Hold on to the fact you are not perfect, it will keep you resilient to the slings and arrows of life.
Finally, use technology not just for things other like facebook-stalking your crush, twitter-announcing your success, and candy crushing your boredom. The Philosophy of Man taught you that communication is the key to life. Use it to improve relationships. Start with the home. Text Mom “Hi!” Message Dad, “Let’s watch a movie?” Simple tasks that will leave you with a smile on your face and happy memories to last a lifetime.
The Ateneo education has provided the threads of knowledge in the core of your being –Interlace the threads of your experiences in to create your own unique tapestry of life.
I may not be able to sing this last part of my message so Let me leave you on this note – song FOR YOUR GLORY
I’ll rise up and be your voice
I made my choice
This is my story
Your songs are stored inside my heart
So break me apart
It’s for your glory
Let it pour out of me
Let it pour out of me
It’s for your glory.
Again congratulations to the 2014 graduates of the Ateneo de Manila University and your parents. Good day!
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