2007 MHSAA Grand Alumni Reunion
Hosted by Western Canada Chapter
Vancouver, BC
August 4-5, 2007

"BRIDGING AND STRENGTHENING THE BOND"
Speech by Rex Tantiongco, Class '62
Keynote Speaker
 

Fellow alumni of my beloved Alma Mater, Morong High School, my dear friends and colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening to all of you.

Gatherings like this uplift my spirit.  For reunions are occasions to meet old friends, discover new ones and forge new alliances.

Tonight, I am pleased to see long lost friends and classmates, acquaintances and colleagues whom I haven’t seen or spoke to for quite some time now.  I am especially glad that this occasion has brought us together to reminisce good old times and rekindle memories from the past.  We all have wonderful thoughts to share—that I am certain of.

I can’t help but say that tonight’s occasion is a fête of successful people.  You are the icons of success in your very own rights— after all, who would trade being far from home…. From families, relatives and friends, if not for having established a good life, albeit at the other end of the globe?

Tonight, we all come together to honor, celebrate and pay tribute to the greatness of our beloved Alma Mater, Morong High School.  The role it played in enriching our minds, shaping our characters, and challenging our spirits, are valuable inputs which all made us what we have become today.  These are part of the legacies Morong High School has left us.

It is but interesting to note that the province of Rizal is not popular for a particular product or commodity.  There is no one specific item that we are known for or we, Rizalenos, are truly proud of— except for education.

It is with great pride to note that the Town of Morong has since become a premiere educational destination.  Truly, many of the best doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, entrepreneurs, educators, public servants, and members of such other noble professions in the province of Rizal, are products of the good educational system we are all proud of.

Indeed, it is overwhelming to note how immensely the educational system in the town of Morong has grown as it has proved to be a formidable force in shaping the lives and destiny of the province of Rizal.  It has greatly evolved, progressed and improved to accommodate the students from Cardona, Binangonan, Angono, Taytay, Teresa, Antipolo, Baras, Tanay, Pililia, Jalajala and even Rodriguez and San Mateo City.  We owe this to the government’s enlightened conviction that the education is the key to a better society we all aspire for.

It is this dream for a better society that makes education much more than the soul of society being passed from one generation to another.  Education is the domain of the future as much as it belongs to the present.  Viewed as such, education becomes a dynamic process that molds, reshapes and evolves.

Certainly, we live in exhilarating times. In this day and age, education is power.  Only those who are well-educated, abreast with new technologies, comfortable with state of the art equipments and at ease with the rapidity with which everything changes, will surely do well in the future.

Allow me to impart to you, as an example, the case of the University of Rizal System (URS) Foundation. For about three (3) years since the inception of the URS Business School in Binangonan, no had ever passed the CPA Board Examinations.  The attention of the faculty was called by the URS Foundation’s leadership, particularly its President, ex-Congressman Gilberto “Bibit” Duavit and its Chairman, former Governor Casimiro “Yto” Ynares; they warned that if the unsatisfactory performance prevailed, the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) could freeze the Accountancy Course of the University.  Accordingly, the defects were analyzed.  The curriculum was revised to be abreast with the current developments and trends in the CPA Board Examinations.  At the same time, seminars, workshops and trainings on English Enhancement were conducted since the study showed that students were flawed in that particular area.  Subsequently, the areas of Sciences and Math were enhanced as well.

And for your information, this enhancement program was conceptualized by Ex-Congressman Duavit and financed by the URS Foundation.  I am very proud to announce that for the last 3 CPA Board Examinations, our University’s batting average was more than 20%, at par with the national average.  I am sure the University President can attest to this.  Congratulations to Dr. De Leon!  Thanks to the guidance and support of Dr Gilberto Duavit and Gov Yto Ynares!

We, as alumni of Morong High School, could also do our share in the betterment of the educational system in the province of Rizal.  Let us remember to look back to our humble beginnings.  Now that we are all stable, secured and successful, let us not forget to give back to the institution that once honed us.  Let us utilize our networking capabilities and join forces as we transcend our own limitations and commit to a calling higher than our own.  After all, what are our alliances for?

Let us altogether work with zeal and dedication as we endeavor to support the schools in Morong and in the province of Rizal through educational programs aimed at uplifting the quality of education in our area.

It is a legacy that extends beyond our lifetime and sphere of influence.  The rewards of sharing are not only measured in money, but more importantly, by the lives that will be touched and destinies that will be changed.

Our successes are increased and fortified by the successes of others which we have helped and will be able to help in the future.  As Smiley Blanton aptly puts, “The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life whenever we use our native capacities to their greatest extent.”

As we carry the banner of our Alma Mater, let us celebrate our achievements with renewed strength and confidence to carry through its ideals.

Fellow Alumni of my beloved Alma Mater, Morong High School, let me wish everyone here the best as we move forward.  And in the end, when all is said and done, let us join forces in bringing the Morong High School Alumni Association to greater heights.

Before I finally close, let me share with you one of the short stories compiled by an SVD priest Father Glenn Paul Gomez.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.  Conversations soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.  Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups—porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite—telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all his former students had a coffee at hand, the professor said, “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.  While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.  What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup.  But you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee and jobs, money and position in society are the cups.  They are just tools to hold and contain Life.  But, they do not change the quality of Life.  Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided.” 

So don’t let the cups drive you, enjoy the coffee instead.

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”  -----  Aristotle

 “Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone.  But, their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.” ----- 1 Timothy 6:17

With this I close.  Thank you and good night.  MARAMING SALAMAT PO!

Sept. 17, 2007