DNL’s Speech during the 35th Annual Convention & 5th Asia Pacific
Biotechnology Congress of the Philippine Society of Microbiology Inc. held last May 10, 2006.
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| ``The Human Factor`` |
It is with a sense of pride that I welcome the officers and members of the Philippine Society for
Microbiology Inc. as well as the participants and guests to the 35th annual convention and 5th
Asia Pacific Biotechnology Congress. Tagbilaran is indeed very fortunate to host such a scientific
gathering not only of best minds in the field of microbiology in the country but even in the Asia
Pacific region.
The theme that you have chosen for this event, “Microbiology and Biotechnology: Roadmaps and
Milestones for Enhancing Sustainable Productivity in the Asia Pacific Region” sounds Greek to mere
mortals like me.
Nevertheless, it brings no small amount of joy because it is reassuring to realize that people are
in fact so diverse and therefore has so much to share. This only shows God’s grasp about people’s
wide-ranging needs that He provides gifts and inclinations to meet every one of them.
This is thought-provoking, coming at a time when more and more people are embracing the gospel of
self-preservation. They are so preoccupied with survival and improving their own lot in life that
they no longer have the time and the heart to lift other people up.
Gone are the days when men stood up for women in crowded buses and youths offer their seats for
the elderly. Nowadays, there is an obvious obsession to get to the top at all cost. More and more
people don’t lose sleep when they trample on others because this seems to be the only way to reach
the top.
Sharing and caring are virtues that are slowly going out of style, a sad commentary to a
generation when inventions have made life far too comfortable to humans. The ease that technology
offers has sadly become an obsession. In their desire to be comfortable in life, people no longer
care to comfort others.
In the next three days, you will be preoccupied with the tasks that you have set for yourselves as
part of this activity. It is my hope that at the end of this gathering, you will not only
accomplish the purpose for this scientific conference. It will also open your mind to the need to
care and share, to make a difference in the lives especially of the ordinary people who need them.
To most people, life has turned for the worse. More people are hungry, homeless, jobless and
therefore hopeless in this generation than at any other time in history.
Realizing this need, the City Government of Tagbilaran has embarked on a mission to offer hope to
the poorest of the lot. Notwithstanding our limited resources, we have appropriated for free
school uniforms including shoes, school supplies including bags and the little comforts in the
classroom for our public school children.
This may not seem much to the comfortable but it makes a whole lot of difference to the mindset of
children, many of whom do not know how it feels to wear new clothes. It brings a new dimension to
a positive self-image that hopefully will usher in a better generation of citizens in the near
future.
Instead of perpetuating the cynicism that neglect brings, the children are getting the message
that there is still hope in the future.
No doubt, the inroads of technology and the advancements of science are invaluable to man. And
yet, they can be meaningless to a hungry child and a homeless family. All the titles that a person
carry to his or her name are hollow if they have done nothing to improve the lot of a fellow human
being.
It is my hope that long after you have left Tagbilaran, you will continue to pursue the passion
for excellence that brought you here today. And yet, more than that, may you be motivated by a
life of service, a burning obsession to make a difference in the life of the lowly, the broken and
the weary.
As David MacCasland once noted, it’s not wrong to seek work that fits our skills and interest. But
it’s futile to go from one job to another without settling the issue of whom we are serving.
Enjoy your stay but more than that, have a full life ahead of you. Thank you and good day. |
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