WORKING IN HARMONY FOR A PROGRESSIVE SOCIETY

(“Panagdur-as ti Ili, Pagbibinnuligan ti Umili”)

April 30,2006 at Municipal Plaza
57th Anniversary of Santol, La Union

By AMALIA WARLITA M. IBAY, PhD

This year’s celebration is organized with the theme:

“Panagdur-as ti Ili, Pagbibinnuligan ti Umili.” Daytoy nga tema
wenno ideya Ladies and Gentlemen ket saan nga kabarbaro nga
mangngeg. Sukat-sukatan tay laeng ti expresyon wenno
pinangyebkas. No adda igannuat tayo, aktibidad man wenno
proyekto, masansan kunatayo: let’s help one another; we need
cooperation, we need unity for a concerted effort; we need to work
like one family and so let’s give our best. Wen, kunatayo, masapul ga
agmaymaysa tayo tapno ti kasta ket matungpal ti panggep tayo.
Malpas nga nangayed ti programa wenno maipatungpal ti plano ket
nabunga ti proyekto.

Ammok nga dagita nga kapanpanunotan ken kababalin ket

adda nga nagari kadagiti amin nga agserservi manipud kadagiti
nadumaduma nga ahensya ken institusyon (national, provincial,
local) nga nangbukel iti komyunidad iti ili ti Santol tapno ti kasta ket
naiganuat ken naaramid daytoy nga selebrasyon ti panagfiesta.

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is indeed a tough job but you will
succeed and we will end the celebration with pride and joy.

On this occasion, let me share with you an Acronym. (Makitak

ket puro acronym dagiti nailanad kadagiti banners yo.) Acronym nga
mangilanad kadagiti talugading para iti nadur-as nga komyunidad.
Tapno ti kasta ket ad-adda a maguyugoy ti maysa ken maysa
kadatayo nga makibinnulig wenno makitinnulong nga mangpadur-as
ti ili tay a Santol.

This wonderful 10-letter word I created from my learning of

successful orgaizations, institutions, and nations at large, is
FRIENDSHIP. It si another common term but it takes a risk and great
effort to put it into action. First, let’s take it as a word. Muhammad
Ali, one of the greatest fighters in sports said, “Friendship is the
hardest thing in te world to explain. It is not something we learn in
school. But if one hasn’t learned the meaning of friendship, he really
hasn’t learned anything.”
 Friendship? Pannakigayyem? Wen kakabsat, kaslan sa nagrigat
ti makigayyem anya? Ti mangbuangay ti napintas a relasyon iti
kagimongan, ti mangted ti suporta, ti agpakumbaba, ti makikapya,
wenno mangakseptar ti nagbiddutan ken pagkurangan? But the
Anglo-American Friendship, my friends, is a relationship of mutual
assistance, approval and support. Is it difficult to establish such a
relationship in our families, in our own Santol community, in our
beloved Philippines?

Maikadua, Acronym kunak tattay and my FRIENDSHIP stands

Faith, Responsibility, Ideals, Education, Nobility, Dependability,
Security, Harmony, Integrity, and Purpose.

F in Friendship is Faith. Let us work with Faith. I associate

Faith with Confidence in Oneself, Confidence in Others, Confidence in
the Future. The then US President John F. Kennedy said in his speech
to the Inter-American Press Association: “There can be no progress
if people have no faith in tomorrow.” His tomorrow is the future and
future means hope and hope implies progress. Ideed we often sigh:
“Habang may buhay, may pag-asa.

R in Friendship is Responsibility. Let us serve the Community

with Responsibility. Being responsible is not simply doing one’s duty.
“The great need in the world today is not for more genius, or even
for more skill. It is for people willing to accept responsibility for
what they do.” If people are responsible and accountable enough to
their actions, Peace is never a problem and prosperity flourishes.
Gagayyem ken kakabsat, aramiden tay ngarud ti trabajo tayo nga
saan laeng a gapu ta maselduan tayo no di ket gapu ta
pagrebbengan tayo.

I in Friendship is Ideals. Let us work with Ideals. Ideals

challenge the mind and heart to carefully carry out plans. Let us then
work with standards, norms, criteria and be abided by them. Louis
Pasteur, a world-renowned chemist who founded the science of
microbiology exclaimed: “Blessed is he who carries within himself
an ideal, and who obeys it; an ideal of art, of science, of the gospel
virtues, therein lie the springs of great thoughts and great actions;
they all reflect light from the infinite.” Law makers who are law
violators have no room in justice. Iti simple nga balikas: Agtrabajo
tayo nga suroten tayo dagiti pagalagadan nga inaramid tayo met
laeng. It is only then, Peace and Order is obtained and sustained.
 E in Friendship is Education. Education is the ability to listen to
almost anything without losing one’s temper or his self-confidence.”
Let us never stop educating ourselves. Let us mind others and
others’ business. It is only then, we will know problems and settle
issues. Education is also disciplining oneself. And Discipline, when
fairly and consistently invoked, breeds pride and respect. The then
Vice President Jose Laurel said, “The seeds of moral discipline must
be nurtured from within… not from without.” I know everyone is still
familiar with the local maxim: “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang
kailangan.” Let us advocate discipline and let us stsrt from
ourselves. It could be the best self-education we can have.

N in Friendship is Nobility. Let us perform our individual tasks

with Nobility. “Nobility is a graceful ornament to the civil order. It is
the Corinthian capital of polished society.” And to work with nobility
means to deal with human and material resources in an exalted
moral character. It is working unselfishly and honestly; it is working
without waiting for recognition. It is accepting defeat and
acknowledging misdeeds. It is achieving with humility. Ti saludsod
gagayyem ken kakabsat: Makapagtrabajo tay kadi iti nalinteg?
Agserservi tay kadi nga agar-ari iti kinalinteg kadagiti
kapanpanunotan tayo?

D in Friendship is Dependability. In work, let us make

ourselves dependable for “the greatest ability is Dependability.”
Remember the humorous saying, “When the cat is away, the mouse
will play?” To be dependable my friends is to work reliably and
trustworthily. Iti simple nga balikas: Agtrabaho tayo nga situtudyo
adda man wenno awan ni boss. Do we work without supervision or
do we need supervision to work?

S in Friendship is Security. With our presence, the institution

or the community is secured. True, “Security can only come from
truth entering the mind and heart of a nation, forming therein a hard
core of determination to do the right.” It is confidence of safety.
Because it is You who is there, the institution is in good hands.
Nagganas a denggen no kuna dagiti empleado: Hay, Slamat! Ang
Departamento ay nasa mabuting kamay! Awan korapsyon, awan
apa, awan pinnasepsep ken dadduma pay a saan a nainkalintegan
nga aramid.

H in Friendship is Harmony. Let us work in Harmony. In his

speech to the United Nations, Mikhail Gorbachev, a Russian
statesman retorted: “We must look for ways to improve the
international situation and build a new world and we must do it
together.” Harmony is the other essence of Teamwork. If there are
five players in a team, these five have to participate actively in
winning the game. Amin a ket “key players.” Awan ti paspasurot
laeng. Kasta met no dagiti team members ket agtutulag da para iti
pagsayaatan, ti napintas nga ideya a ket masapul nga bunga iti
pinagdidinniskutir dagiti lima. In the truest practice of democracy,
we agree to disagree and we disagree to agree. Awan ti agtungtung-
ed laeng nga agkuna: No anya ti kunam a ket isu met kanyakon.
Everyone participates in the thinking and in the making. I think, my
friends, this is also the essence of our theme this year: Panagdur-as
ti Ili, Pagbibinnuligan ti Umili.

Another I in Friendship is Integrity. Integrity is not the only

way one thinks but even more the way one acts. Integrity is doing
what you said you would do. It is basic as keeping one’s word or
fulfilling one’s promises. Kinapudno wenno napudpudno a
panagservi, panagtrabajo, tapno ti kasta mataginayon ti panagtalek
ti gimong.

And P in Friendship is Purpose. Finally, work with a Purpose.

Purpose is the keystone in the temple of achievement. When you
don’t know what you want, you often end up where you don’t want
to be. We work guided by an intended accomplishment. We work to
realize a dream, to win a game, to win the battle, to eliminate
poverty, to eradicate insurgence. Whatever it is, we work for a
reason. A Chinese proverb states, “The bird does not sing because it
has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”

Once more, let us serve the community, our own Santol

Community with FRIENDSHIP-Faith, Responsibility, Ideals,
Education, Nobility, Dependability, Security, Harmony, Integrity, and
Purpose. As embraced by our celebration’s theme this year, let us
work in Harmony for a Progressive Santol Community.

This is all my friends. I wish you good fruits of FRIENDSHIP. I

wish you joy for your good deeds. And I wish you luck in all your
endeavors.