TOSP 2012: Choosing leaders

It was a whirlwind tour of the Philippines – through the eyes and ears of 30 of the country’s best and brightest students. 

They weathered a rigorous nationwide selection process. Now they’re at the last step: the final interview with 5 judges. We spent 10 straight hours asking, poking, pushing, laughing with them – trying to understand what makes them tick, sharing our more jaundiced view of the world. Our goal: to choose the 10 outstanding students of the country.

Here are some of the lessons I learned.

They call a spade a spade – allowing them to tear apart the hypocrisy age allows to flourish. Although they do it with respect, they can tell the emperor he has no clothes, and many of them have.

They have two dominant narrative styles: the ones from the cities tend to speak in more direct, western bullet points; those from the provinces ramble in a more storytelling, narrative manner. They reflect deeper values and priorities, from traditional to modern, each with its dangers and pitfalls.

They’re old enough to have experience but young enough to believe anything is possible: their idealism fed by the fountain of youth. They’re at an age of expansion; their eyes bright with the excitement of discovery.

They speak with great idealism about the future and the actions they can – and should – take to build better lives for their families and make this country better. They speak in bold strokes anchored in their own life experiences, aware of real-world responsibilities to their families.

They have few layers of protection. For now, they share the essence of themselves willingly. Perhaps that’s why so many cried. They were nervous, and they let us in.  They were extremely personal, telling us details about their lives that surprised me. It made me realize again that age teaches you to build armor, a barrier against authentic sharing.

Anguished generation

They’re a more anguished generation: many come from broken families, children of overseas Filipino workers. They deal with hypocrisy in their own families and shout against it. One son fights the corruption his father had the power to stop but didn’t.  One daughter tried to kill herself to escape the torture that had become her life.

How did we choose the best 10? Each judge filled a tally sheet based on 5 criteria: 15% for academic performance, 25% for responsible & exemplary leadership; 25% for social responsibility; 20% for values; 15% for personality. When the tally sheets were combined, our top 9 choices were identical.  We chose the last student from a list of 3.  We went over the highlights of each, had a short discussion, and by a show of hands chose number 10.

Here are the 2012 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (in alphabetical order):

1. Kenneth Isaiah Abante, cum laude, BS Management Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University
2. Angelita Bombarda, BS Psychology, De La Salle University
3. Jerome David, BS Industrial Management Engineering, De La Salle University
4. John Michael Dellariarte, magna cum laude, Political Science, Doctor of Medicine, Ateneo de Zamboanga University
5. Daniel Philip Dy, cum laude, BS Business Administration, Ateneo de Naga University
6. Jay-R Mendoza, magna cum laude, BS Education Major in Mathematics, University of Rizal System
7. Ruthell Moreno, summa cum laude, BS in Special Education, West Visayas State University
8. Maria Janua Polinar, magna cum laude, BA Political Science, Central Mindanao University
9. Kurt Gerrard See, summa cum laude, BS in Applied Economics, De La Salle University
10. Juan Carlo Tejano, magna cum laude, BA Political Science, University of the Philippines-Diliman

While they all have stories to tell, 3 show a depth of human spirit that stretches beyond their years.

Maria Janua Polinar graduated magna cum laude from Central Mindanao University.  Petite and pretty, she admitted she was sent to school by the Left to recruit students for the communist movement, but somewhere along the way, she switched her major to political science and that changed her world. Her course, she said, convinced her it’s possible to push change through political systems. “Why am I hiding,” she asked the panel of judges.

I remembered her story when she received her award in Malacañang on Thursday, August 3, so thrilled she hugged the President of the Philippines, the head of the government the communists want to overthrow. Her dream is to see honest elections. 

Jay-R Mendoza is from the University of Rizal System, magna cum laude, education major in mathematics. Struggling and poor, he has a larger than life personality. His mother, a sidewalk vendor, is his anchor. Although she wanted to be a teacher, she had to drop out of school when she was in 3^rd grade to help her family. “Lagi nyong tatandaan walang masama sa pagtitinda ko, dahil tapat ako at hindi kaylan man nanlamang ng aking kapwa,” she told her family.  Despite their poverty, she supports several homeless and mentally ill, giving them free food and water.

Now a teacher living his mother’s dream, Mendoza’s goal is to strengthen the educational system and work for a zero dropout rate. His dream? To build a foundation for the aged and mentally ill.

And then there is overachiever and summa cum laude in special education Ruthell Moreno from the West Visayas State University.  In her third year of college, she was diagnosed with lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease – when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. She said when that happened, she looked at the awards in her room – and her life – in a new light.

“It had to be lupus to show me the real meaning of life,” she told us. She came to the interview with black winter gloves on her hands, apologizing because she said the cold air could turn her hands blue. This is a young woman who faced her mortality, accepted it and stared it down. Instead of letting the disease defeat her, she became the founder and president of the Lupus Support Group of Panay, Inc., helping herself and others like her cope with the disease and live meaningful lives. 

“If I die,” she said, “I want to say I helped change a life.”

Two days later, I watch them receive their awards in Malacañang. Their finest clothes and the glow in their eyes give no hint of the challenges they’ve faced and conquered; the thrill of the moment gives an added sheen to the promise of the future. 

Ateneo de Manila’s Ken Abante, one of the most articulate in the group, delivers the speech the group crafted together.  It is passionate and substantive – pulled together in a holistic narrative that vows to work for the issues they identified. Halfway through, I start to cry. I quickly wipe my tears.

Perhaps it’s because as Jose Concepion, Jr. tells the students, “We now stand at a unique point in Philippine history. We cannot afford to fail.” That’s been said in the past, and we have certainly failed.

Still, there’s something special about this generation. Technology connects them globally, breaking borders, changing values, but they remain mired in the real-world challenges and customs of a developing country.

The zeitgeist is changing. They are empowered. They’ve identified what they can do, and they’ve set out to do it. They give me faith in the future. 

Change is happening. – Rappler.com

(Maria A. Ressa was one of the judges in the 2012 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines. The other judges were child development specialist Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, AIM Professor Soledad A. Hernando, FunWorks president Francis Kong and COA Commissioner Heidi Mendoza.)