ILOILO PRISAA, INGENUITY: FORTFYING TRUTH AND INTEGRITY

THROUGH SPORTS CULTURE AND ARTS

I am sure a lot of you are asking, ‘Why does PRISAA exist?’ That question is not very easy to

answer because PRISAA is both a masterpiece and a work in progress.

Dissecting the anatomy of PRISAA, it reveals its two faces: the physical side ..shooting! spiking!

diving from the platform! belting out a high note! declaiming! orating!; and the more important

side, the spiritual side, the moral side.

Speaking before thousands of athletes at the 2018 PRISAA national finals in Bohol last April,

Philippine Sports Commissioner Ramon Fernandez underscored the importance of play in a child’s

life. He said that sports not only highlight the fun, but more importantly open a wide range of

perspective for an athlete’s values formation.

This is what I’m talking about – values. Values formation! PRISAA is worthless without this very

important element of values formation! PRISAA is worthless if it is only about physical strength.

PRISAA is worthless if it is only about COMPETITION!

Being a part of these games is something worth telling. I enjoin everyone to give his or her best

shot and someday tell his or her own story in the PRISAA…his or her story how PRISAA has made

him or her a better person, a better citizen of the world!

This brings us to the all-important concept – PRISAA’s ingenuity! Why ingenuity? Well, PRISAA

always thinks of new ideas. Concretely, PRISAA does things! PRISAA makes things! PRISAA shapes

things ..or better yet PRISAA does the young, PRISAA makes the young, and PRISAA shapes the

young!
Time and again, PRISAA has been a paragon of organizational ingenuity because of its ability to

create innovative solutions within structural constraints using limited resources and imaginative

problem solving. PRISAA exemplified the true essence of ingenuity – that is solving a problem

creatively and practicing excellence in spite of limited resources…because after all, the true

wealth of PRISAA lies in thousands of boys and girls, men and women, ladies and gentlemen who

have been part of PRISAA’s long yet fruitful history.

PRISAA’s ingenuity truly manifests in its advocacy in making arts and sports a way of life for the

Ilonggos and the Filipinos. I assume we have all wondered about the meaning of integrity at one

point or another in our lives. Well, there is integrity when what we say is what we do. It is fueled

by truth.

Is this not what PRISAA wants to develop in all of us?

Is this not what PRISAA wants to achieve?

Is this not what PRISAA is all about?

We can develop integrity in many different ways, but being honest with ourselves is key. Without

truth, we don't recognize our talents and our weaknesses. And I am here on this stage because I

have a talent….because I have won against my weaknesses…because PRISAA has given me this

platform to share myself to the world!

Yes, as one American TV show frequently cited, “Winning is nice, as long as you don’t lose your

integrity.’ . It is beyond doubt that sports and arts eminently thrive by the grace of its integrity

and truth.

And it goes beyond just arts.

Beyond just sports.

Beyond just PRISAA.

It is a life rule as well!

Integrity and truth go beyond. It is also about how we live our lives — at work, marriage and

parenting, in friendship, in the neighborhood, and even within our own very selves.

In 1979, the song Honesty climbed up the charts to become a top-10 hit. Billy Joel crooned the

words, “Honesty is such a lonely word, everyone is so untrue”. While it might seem an

exaggeration, regrettably, the lyrics still resonate today. These are profound words. They should

prick the conscience of every one of us in this world which is racked with scandals of unthinkable

order.

Thank you, PRISAA, for teaching us that integrity and truth are the seeds of achievement.

Thank you, PRISAA, for telling us to do what is right, and not what is easy.

Thank you, PRISAA, for leading us, through your ingenuity, to the way of truth and integrity.

After all, without integrity, nothing else matters! Without integrity, we have….NOTHING!