Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the 1997 Ramon Magsaysay Awards presentation

[Delivered at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila,  August 31, 1997]

Leadership and
quiet heroism

THESE AWARDS remind all of us that decency compassion and selfless service remain the standards by which our societies judge our public men and women. For a national leader like myself, this is especially reassuring because we can hardly succeed in our visions and our programs without the vital contributions of leaders in many fields of endeavors such as those whom we honor here tonight.

It is now almost 40 years since the first Ramon Magsaysay Awards were given. And, through the years, they have served to bring to light high achievement and good work in Asian countries. With the example of the late President Ramon Magsaysay (whose 90th birthday we also celebrate today) as its standard, the Board of Trustees for these awards has never been disappointed in its search for worthy nominees.

At the start, it may have seemed daunting to find individuals worthy of the honor. But in reality—and for 40 years now—the roll of awardees has kept increasing with every passing year. And we might add that the achievements honored by the awards have vividly reflected Asia’s march to enlightenment and progress.

A standard of excellence

Cynics may want us to believe that nowadays it is hard to find individuals who in their lives and work can serve as models for Asians everywhere. They would have us believe that survival in a changing, fast-faced compete world compels us to abandon our moral values lower if not completely forget our ethical standards, and focus our sights constantly and consistently on just one single objective—what we can do and get for ourselves.

They may tell us that this is the time of the “me” generation, that people are looking out only for themselves, that being nice and kind and compassionate will only leave us at the bottom of the heap. But the cynics are wrong. And the Ramon Magsaysay Awards show that the cynics are wrong, because the values Magsaysay lived by abide and endure.

Today, August 31, the last Sunday of August every year is also our National Heroes’ Day. It is indeed fortuitous that this day has been set aside for reverence and commitment to our nation’s heroic ideals and for Ramon Magsaysay’s commemoration to converge on this same day in 1997, which is our “Year of the Filipino Spirit,” so proclaimed on the eve of the centennial of Philippine Independence.

In many ways, of course, our heroes have been with us all these years, in spirit and in deed. We know their names. We speak about them in our schools. We dedicate statues, buildings and avenues in their honor.

This is as it should be. By honoring the extraordinary, we remind ourselves that heroism requires a certain stature of men and women—an ability and a self-sacrificial willingness to rise above common humanity in response to the urgent needs of their time.

Wars and revolutions or situations crucial to human survival inevitably produce outstanding mortals of great talent, character and achievement. Dr. Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena and Marcelo H. del Pilar were products of oppressive colonial rule. At a young age, leaders such as Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Gregorio del Pilar, Artemio Ricarte and many more Filipinos of their kind dashed across the pages of our history and achieved great deeds.

Simple lives of quiet endeavor

In the more recent past, the names such as those of Jesus Villamor, Jose Abad Santos, Wenceslao Vinzons, Josefa Llanes Escoda, Ninoy Aquino and Ramon Magsaysay have become enshrined in the collective consciousness and the grateful hearts of our people.

But for every Rizal, for every Bonifacio, for every Aquino and Magsaysay, thousands of men and women have led simple and quiet lives of painstaking and productive labor; who have given of their blood perhaps not in large streams but in the steady pulse of honest and efficient service; who make of every task a personal responsibility to create and leave behind a better world. These are the battles and the heroes of our time, and these people, too, we acknowledge and honor on National Heroes’ Day.

The young student who looks into the future, and who is not afraid of its complexity; the worker who relishes the challenge of excellence and competition; the entrepreneur who dares, who believes in his own country’s better future; the public leader who places the strategic national interest above all other considerations.

Heroes of our everyday life

In this category of heroes, also are our overseas Filipino workers and thousands of professionals who have returned from abroad because they now see good prospects for themselves and their families back home here in the Philippines.

I must not also fail to mention the legion of peace and development advocates—Christians, Muslims and indigenous people—soldiers, policemen and Local Government officials who are making our peace process work in our southern regions.

Worthy of our praise, especially, are our World War II veterans whose cause Ramon Magsaysay championed as a young congressman, Secretary of National Defense and Philippine President, and who continue their lonely decades-old battle before the U.S. Congress for justice and equity, even in the twilight of their years.

The four decades of the Magsaysay Awards show us that compassion, fairness, decency, generosity and leadership remain attributes prized by Asians. And they contribute in a vital way to the building of an Asia closer to all our dreams.

Every year the Magsaysay Award ceremonies give us a chance to meet Asians who—in both modest and lofty positions, from big cities and remote villages, with impressive academic credentials and modest educational attainments—have dedicated themselves to the uplift of the lives of their fellow citizens.

To be sure, this year’s five laureates, just like those before them, did not have an easy time doing what they set out to do. But unlike many of us who waver at the slightest obstacle, they persevered and toiled on.

Anand Panyarachun had so little time as head of government when he tried to set in place measures that stabilized his country’s movement toward full democracy.

Mahesh Chandar Mehta might have felt like a voice in the wilderness when he started his environmental crusade.

Sister Eva Fidela Maamo might have thought she was waging a futile war against disease and poverty.

The troubles of refugees

The problems of India’s indigenous communities that Mahasweta Devi championed could have been easily shunted aside, given India’s vast population.

And the troubles of refugees that Sadako Ogata had to sort out might have seemed unimportant to government’s coping with the problems of those who never left home.

But despite the odds and the difficulties, our awardees remain focused on their objectives, intent only on achieving what they have vowed to do, putting the interest of others above their own, and giving selflessly of themselves to others, particularly those most in need: and in the end they succeeded magnificently.

I see in their lives and careers the kind of heroism and leadership that really stands behind Asia’s rise to prominence in the world today. Their quality of leadership—service to others—has changed the lives of many, and I believe it is this same leadership that will lift all Asia in the new century that is approaching.

Such leadership and excellence truly deserve emulation—and this I think is finally what these annual awards ceremonies signify. The tribute we pay our laureates tonight will add little to what they have already achieved. But it means a lot more when we think of how it might inspire others to follow their example.

The good we do is its own reward

So let us remind ourselves—and I address this especially to the young people here tonight—let their example spur us in the work we do in our own sectors. Let the Magsasay awardees inspire us to strive to do more and reach out to more. We may not win a Magsaysay Award ourselves, but every good we do by striving to help our communities will also be a sterling achievement in its own way.

As St. Paul in the Holy Scriptures said in addressing the Galatians: “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. . . .”

Truly we achieve much by never giving up doing what is decent, what is just, what is fair and what is good. The good we do is its own reward.