Purpose Driven OFW

It was a few years back when I heard about this speech made by a little known student named Patricia Evangelista. The then 19-year old sophomore from the University of the Philippines, has grown more popular these days. What with some hosting gigs and regular column for a major broadsheet, she has made a name for herself in the field of journalism and, might I say, literature.

Sadly, the speech that was instrumental to her success has now gone to relative obscurity. The speech that has won her the International Public Speaking competition in 2004 besting 58 other student contestants from 37 English speaking countries, including US, UK and Australia, has been sidelined by forgetful Pinoy. The speech that jolted me the first time I read it (as a student) because of its form and elates me now (as an OFW) because of its substance, has totally lost its luster.

Maybe it’s time all of us Pinoys working abroad get a wind of the message being imparted by this inspiring speech. We are living in a borderless world. However, it does not preclude the idea of a home, the idea that wherever we are, whatever we do, we are driven by a purpose. A purpose to give back to the country that shaped us, a purpose to serve, albeit remotely. Now, it is our turn to shape the world. We will start by being inspired.

Below is the full text of the speech entitled, Blonde and Blue Eyes

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Top 10 bizarre life lessons you can learn from Philippine politics

And so it comes to a final close. The Philippine elections season will be ending soon and despite the doomsday scenario painted by many pundits, the recent and first ever computerized elections turned out to be quite peaceful, relatively credible and surprisingly successful. Philippines, welcome to the 21st century elections, finally!

But amidst all the mudslinging, grandstanding and political backbiting that happened over the last few months; no one can deny that Philippine politics doesn’t lack ‘color’ (yes, pun intended) and excitement, enough to feed the world with interesting stories that will rival that of the best movies Hollywood has ever produced. Heard about the Boxing champ who ran for a law-making position and sang ('Para sa ‘yo ang laban na ‘to') his way to victory? How about an 80-year old imeldific shoe collector who just refuses to retire? And this one is for the books, a CEO who wants to become a Clerk, only CEO actually means President and Clerk, Congressman. Certainly, there is nothing more ‘colorful’ than that.

Believe it or not, it’s not only fascinating stories that dominate Philippine politics. There are life lessons too! Bizarre as it is, you can’t help but wonder whether these things are the new rules to be successful in life. The list below smacks of dumb analysis. Or does it? Judge for yourself. Here are the Top 10 Bizarre Life Lessons You Can Learn From Philippine Politics:

10. Begin with a ‘color’ in mind. Old rules say: Begin with the END in mind. Not true in this elections. Everybody picked their ‘colors’ first. You would think that candidates will define and share their platforms first but you would be wrong. It’s colors first. Orange for Villar, Green for Gibo, Yellow for Noy. The rest just followed after that.

9. If at first you don’t succeed, find an easier challenge. We heard of a boxing champ who ran against a highly influential and political heavyweight in one province but lost. So he ran again, but this time choosing a different opponent. He’s now headed for victory. In life, there will be a lot of challenges; maybe the key to success is not to keep on trying but to keep on finding easy challenges. Hhmmm.

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