30 JUNE 2012
COMMENCEMENT SPEECH FOR ENTREPRENEUR SCHOOL OF ASIA

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for inviting me to share a little bit about my life with you today. The last time I wore a toga was 12 years ago during my own graduation, and honestly I didn’t really put as much importance to it as I should have. I was so distracted that I didn’t even know that I should’ve picked up my toga 5 days before and I had to run to one of the offices just 30 minutes before the ceremony to borrow a spare toga so that I could march. Anyway, I certainly hope that you are all not as scatterbrained as I am and you wouldn’t be as stressed and jittery as I was marching down the aisle.

LOVE FOR COUNTRY

Looking back, I think the main reason why the gravity of ending my school years didn’t really weigh down heavily on me is because I have always believed that much of learning happens outside the four walls of the classroom. I remember that my education started when I was 12 years old, the year my parents decided that all of their four kids were old enough to explore our country. My mom each bought us backpacks to carry our stuff and in mid-April of 1992, we boarded the Superferry to tour Visayas and Mindanao by sea and by land. We visited all the quaint and historic monuments in Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo. It was also then that I dug my toes for the very first time on the powdery sands of Boracay. This was a completely different era before the branded sailboats, real-estate boom and pulsating nightlife; just pure, unadulterated paradise. Then we set for Bacolod, Dumaguete, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. Every new place was uniquely wonderful and my young impressionable heart swelled with love for our people, our food and our land over and over again. That year, I learned independence, adaptability, resourcefulness and most importantly, a deep love for the Philippines. No amount of hours logged in Araling Panlipunan and Filipino could have taught me the valuable lessons that I gained that summer. I would go on to travel the world and see more than a dozen other countries since then but my parents made sure that before I fell in love with other shores and other cultures, I would learn to appreciate the riches and the beauty that we had back home first. I guess that’s why I never really thought that the grass was greener on the other side; my heart had already been captured by the beauty and charms of my homeland when I was just 12 years old.

That summer of 1992 was the start of my real education. Love of country anchored me to what was important and tied my own personal dreams to the hopes and dreams of the rest of our country, many of whom do not have the same opportunities that we all have.

WE ARE ALL THE SAME

My second real lesson also happened in the most unlikely place, this time it was nowhere near as beautiful as the beaches of Boracay or the majestic falls of Mindanao. In fact it was the opposite – it happened in the dark, dangerous and dank alleys of one of the biggest slums in Metro Manila, Bagong Silang. My father had just gathered a rag-tag group of juvenile delinquents -- drug addicts, pushers, prostitutes and criminals ranging in ages from 12 to 25 years old for a youth camp to reach out to them and help figure out the root causes of poverty in the Philippines. I was just 16 back then, a freshman in Ateneo and I met another young girl during the camp who was about my age. She was funny and very smart, she loved singing and having a good time just like any other teenager. But whereas I spent my time attending classes and burying myself in books and term papers, she spent her days stealing for food and her nights working the streets as a prostitute. Looking into her eyes, I realized my second life lesson --- that we are all the same. The poor were no different from us. Had luck been on her side, I would’ve been the one living in that miserable slum as a prostitute and she would’ve been the one snoozing in the library in between English 12 and Math 1. Needless to say, it was a life-changing moment for me. We are all the same, each person is our equal and we need to treat everybody with dignity and respect. That should be the most basic foundation of everything that we do. The kids in Bagong Silang have the same intelligence as the kids in ESA or in Harvard; the only difference is the opportunities that are available to them.

BLAZE YOUR OWN TRAIL BUT LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND

I talk a lot about my father and obviously, he is one of the biggest influences in my life. But on the flip side of the coin, when I was your age, my biggest hang-up was having such an accomplished and highly-regarded father. He had started a world-wide movement for eradicating poverty in the Philippines which had transformed the lives of thousands of Filipinos. How could anyone measure up to that? What he had done was incredible and noble but I wanted to blaze my own trail and be recognized for my own achievements. I yearned to be thrown in the real world, go through pain, earn my own battle scars and leave my own mark. Many of you no doubt, also have very successful and protective parents in the audience and so I’m hoping that you can relate to these feelings that I had back then.

And so I defied many expectations when I decided to enter the corporate world instead of joining Gawad Kalinga, the movement that my father founded to help rid the Philippines of poverty. I also fell in love with the art of brand-building and communications and set my career on this path. I had a lot of fun, attended a lot of parties and fancied myself as being smart for coming up with great ideas and witty campaigns. But although I was living out my own personal dreams of success and recognition outside my fathers’ shadow, I had a nagging guilt for living the good life while many in our country still suffered daily. The memories of Bagong Silang haunted me. I remember sitting in my desk one day thinking, “So many others before me had sat on this chair and done exactly what I was doing, surely anyone can do it. I’m spending advertising budgets that was enough to transform a whole village. Out there, in the slums, in the poor rural communities, there is a real opportunity to make a difference. What am I doing here?” A few days later, I handed in my resignation and found my way back to Gawad Kalinga.

Somehow, I’ve found that when you make one important decision, the whole universe conspires to bring you everything else that your heart desires, just like Paulo Coelho said in his famous book, “The Alchemist”. It was also around this time when I met my husband, Dylan Wilk, a brash, young British entrepreneur who came to the Philippines in search for his own purpose in life. He fell in love with the Philippines and the work of GK at the same time that I was having my own epiphany. Apart from the undeniable attraction, our shared values and purpose brought us together and we were married in 2004. Little did I know that our union would also bring about the fulfillment of not just my personal dreams but my dreams for my country as well.

In 2008, together with my sister and my husband, we started a social enterprise called Gandang Kalikasan, Inc, a company that would become the biggest producers of natural personal care products under the brand name Human Nature. This was the fulfillment of my dream, the perfect marriage between business and nation-building. Our vision was to transform business in such a way that it can be a leading force in restoring dignity to our people and eradicating poverty in our country. Our battle cry was Pro-Philippines, Pro-Poor and Pro-Environment. Our goal was to establish a global Filipino brand that we can all be proud of where one day, “made in the Philippines” can be known to be as good as “made in Italy” or “made in France”. Finally, this was the frontier, the path where I could contribute to the cause that I firmly believed in but at the same time new and different. Blaze your own trails, pursue your passions, chase lofty goals but always let it be connected to your dreams for your country so that many more will benefit.

You have been trained by the first ever specialist institution for entrepreneurs. Young entrepreneurs like you have the power to positively affect the lives of millions of people. It should be your personal mission to create the best and most successful social enterprises that the world has ever seen. I have no doubt that if you set your mind to it, many of you can build multi-billion dollar businesses. But instead of just creating a business purely for profit, I hope you build a multi-billion dollar social enterprise.

Twenty or thirty years ago, business was purely about profit because it was a much harsher environment and your parents had to survive in a dog-eat-dog world in order to provide you with a good life. Nowadays, we live in a very different world with more conscientious consumers who no longer just go for prestigious brands or value for money. They demand more from the products and services by asking important questions such as environmental sustainability, business ethics, fair trade and morality. Now is the best time to be a social entrepreneur because you have the opportunity to give life to your brilliant ideas and use your business skills to create a beautiful country for everyone.

It’s not going to be an easy path. You will find that building a business that is profitable and competitive but just and caring at the same time is going to be tough. It will constantly push you to be innovative, efficient, prudent and bold. But even in the face of challenges, DON’T QUIT. Believe me there will be many times that you will be tempted to do so but always have faith that your mission and your goals are worth the heart aches and the sacrifice. Social entrepreneurs have more reasons NOT to fail and more motivation to succeed because we don’t just chase the profit bottom line – we need to make it work for the sake of our country and the planet that we live in.
There are a few things that you have probably already heard before about creating great businesses but which you will need to be reminded of everyday as you set out on this exciting path. When you create your own businesses:

- Come up with the best product and don’t ever short change the customer to make a profit. Your product and your business are extensions of yourself. A social enterprise doesn’t mean that people will be buying out of charity. It should never be a pity purchase. Always come up with a high quality product and it will stand on its own.

- Treat all your employees with dignity and respect from the drivers, to the managers. We are all equals and each one will contribute to the success of your business.

- Do not think any job is beneath you. Roll up your sleeves and learn every aspect of your business before you delegate it to someone else. When we started out, we did everything ourselves from manning the phones, packing the products and making deliveries. It will build your knowledge and your character and no one will be able to deceive you because you know your business inside and out.

- Make business decisions that will benefit our country. Source locally and partner with other Filipino businesses before you consider making other countries rich by importing all your materials. Hire from the poor and invest in their training and human development. You will find that they have the potential to be the most loyal and hard-working employees you will ever have. Build capacity by investing your profits in poor communities.

- Support other Filipino social enterprises and buy Filipino. I recently came back from the World Economic Forum and one of the things that really struck me during the meeting in Bangkok were the local trade policies instituted by the Thai government that has enabled a lot of patriotic businesses to flourish. For example, 20% of all retail space in Thailand is reserved for local products. Thai consumers patronize local cosmetics over imported brands because they genuinely believe that the Thai companies know Thai skin best. Patriotism is not only expressed in words but in their buying choices as well. Korea used to be as backward as many third world economies in Asia but the Koreans patronized local products even when they were still not as good as Japanese or German goods. Today, Koreans arethe number 1 producers of TVs in the world, number 1 in smartphones and number 6 in exporting cars worldwide. Love of country is good for the economy and great for business.

And so I hope that I have convinced you today that social enterprises are the way to ensure not only your success but the success of everyone around you. You have chosen the path to be entrepreneurs but it is my fervent wish that you become more than that. Become a social entrepreneur. It will test all your creativity, determination, faith and your capacity to love but the returns will be immense. I look at you today and I see much hope for you, and for our future. The key to progress is love. We must love our country with our minds, hearts and our pockets. Build the country of your dreams. You have the power to do so.

With resolute hope, I am with you. Thank you all very much.