Our national hero, Jose Rizal said: “Ang di marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di makakarating sa paroroonan.”  It is in this spirit that the Gerry Roxas Foundation, and we, its stakeholders, look back at 50 years of “inspiring leaders” and “changing lives.”  Let me share three things I’ve learned about the Gerry Roxas Leadership Award.

First, I’ve learned that the Award is about leadership by inspiration, not by imposition.

Every year, the Foundation partners with over 2,000 schools throughout the nation. Each school bestows the award on one of its students. The Foundation imposes no criteria other than the student demonstrate exemplary leadership and be among the top ten students of the batch. This tells me that the Foundation does not impose its own beliefs about student leadership. Rather, it accepts my community as capable of making good decisions, and values its definition of what leadership is, or should be. In partnering with public and private schools, mula Batanes hanggang Tawi-Tawi, the Foundation celebrates the diverse expression of our country’s deepest values, its most cherished hopes.

Second, I’ve learned that if we are to be effective in inspiring change in others, we must ourselves be the change that is desired by our community, our nation.

Although I became eligible to receive the award because of things I had done, neither the award nor my efforts made me a leader. My community did. My family—my immediate community, and my school--the first community I belonged to outside family and neighborhood.

As they say, it takes a village to raise a child. Together with my parents, my school taught me to live by certain values. It gave me the privilege to serve, to concern myself with others, and therefore widen my world. It affirmed that the services I had rendered were valuable.  In choosing me, my community hoped I would continue living by its values, and inspire others to do the same. Therefore, when the Foundation honors a student, it actually honors a community. It celebrates the community’s effort and success in undertaking the difficult task of passing on the nation’s most important values to the next generation.

Third, I realized that it is not enough to nurture leaders who change lives. Rather, we need leaders who enable, not disable. For although the most inspiring leaders end up changing the lives of their followers, not all succeed in changing lives for the better.

The award has changed lives. The most dramatic stories come from the ranks of scholars, who are selected from the awardees. When scholars tell how the Foundation’s modest stipend helped make college possible, they inspire us to believe that all it really takes to change one’s life is a chance—the chance to work hard and persevere. We need to hear this message, especially today, when it is often not one’s own efforts, but loyalty and patronage, that guarantee a better life; when the majority believes that only “he who has the gold, rules,” or that the right connections can transform an invitation to a Senate inquiry into an all expenses-paid vacation abroad.

And yet, while the Foundation has changed lives, it has taken care not to overstate its impact. It has refused to take full credit for the success of its awardees, many of whom are now leaders in their own fields. It seems to be understood that the awardees are more than the award. That, while the award may have once affirmed the promise of who we could be, who we have become is largely a product of our own efforts, our free will. This affirms the power of individuals, the dignity and freedom of every person to change oneself, and in so doing, change society.

For the surest way to destroy a nation is to destroy its citizens—to destroy their confidence and ability to become more than what they are expected, and more than what they expect themselves to be. Without personal transformation, social change does not follow, and there can be no real justice, no lasting peace.

In 50 years, the Foundation has recognized over 50,000 young students as leaders, and in doing so, enabled them to recognize their potential. It has helped some 1,400 scholars obtain quality education, which, sadly, remains a privilege, and not a right, in our country today. It has empowered and affirmed the most cherished dreams of our families, our villages, our schools and communities.

May we, its awardees and scholars remember our origins—and use our personal transformation to transform Philippine society. May we remember these lessons from the Gerry Roxas Foundation: to listen when we lead, inspire as we serve, and enable others, particularly the voiceless and marginalized.

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