ENR Academy Graduation Rites – DENR Social Hall
November 13, 2023
Keynote Speech – DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga

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Isang makakalikasang araw sa ating lahat.

Today is the day of celebration in honor of the remarkable journey of growth and transformation of you, the 91 graduates of the ENR Academy. The theme of today’s graduation, “Celebrating our Journey: Turning Passion into Environmental Leadership,” is a call to not only pursue your passion as you have already put all your energies towards successful completion of your training, but also action by implementing transformative measures to deliver the mandates of the DENR.

We live in a complex and challenging world where environmental risks are perceived as relevant to all our lives. We look at climate change disasters that have been caused by natural and man-made hazards, biodiversity loss, the possibility of ecosystem collapse that is irreversible, natural resource crisis, and large-scale environmental damage incidents.

Now more than ever, we need leaders to build a resilient and sustainable future for our country. Today, I will not read the speech, but I will give you three thoughts:

The first thought for the graduates is that you will never be the smartest person in the room. There will always be someone who will know something more, deeper, or better than you. However, the good news is, it’s not about having all the answers. It’s about asking the right questions at the right time, and that hopefully is what the ENR Academy has allowed you, and is able to do. Asking the right questions at the right time, remaining curious and passionate about your work – that is the key to a fulfillment of a life.

The second point I’d like to make: to have the courage of your convictions, and never lose that. Some of you may have been around when HEA told this story during flag ceremony but I’ll retell it again about a man, a boy, and their carabao. The man and the boy were walking along the road towards town, and they had a carabao with them. The boy was driving the carabao. Along the way, the people who saw them said, “Look at that boy. How disrespectful. His father is older, his father is weaker. He should be riding the carabao and not the boy.” They listened to that and they changed places. The man, both the carabao and the boy, walked beside him. As they walked along, other people saw them and said, “Look at that man. How cruel he is to his son. His son is weaker. This father has a hard time walking. Why is the old man on the carabao and not his son?” So these gave them even more problems. They started to discuss this. What they said is “Maybe we should both ride the carabao.” So the man and th boy rode on the carabao. As they were walking along, they heard people say “that man and his son, how inconsiderate they are to the carabao! They are both on the carabao and the carabao is suffering.” The man and the boy had a conversation, they said “maybe we should carry the carabao.” So that’s what they did. They began to carry the carabao along the road and the people who saw them said “Look at this father and son. The carabao is a piece of burden and therefore it should be used in a way that should help the man and the boy.” They said they are carrying the carabao. The story is about having the courage of having your own conviction, knowing what we should do because this is your mandate, this is your role in the organization.

Graduates of the supervisory course, the GIS course, and of course, the enforcement course. This is the stuff, the core of this organization. Together with the strong foundation in environmental science, environmental law. You all have the future of this organization in your hands. I hope you have the courage of your own conviction to do your work faithfully.

My last point is really about loyalty, And I’ve said this point several times during our flag ceremonies. Some of you have heard it before. We all value loyalty. Loyalty of friends, family, our boss, our former boss, our teammates. But I want to urge you to have the courage to be loyal to your country. With every signature and every action that you take, you make that choice because that is what we are here to do.

The last point is perhaps to emphasize the power of circumstance, of chance. You will never know when you will be called to make a difficult decision, and that is the chance you have to make a difference to your country, your family, to the environment. I hope that you will have the wisdom from the courses that you have finished today to actually take advantage of that opportunity to serve, to be of service to your country.

On that note, I want to congratulate each one of you on this remarkable achievement. The world awaits you. It needs your passion, your leadership, your commitment to public service, and environmental sustainability. We celebrate this milestone as this is truly an achievement. There is strength in numbers, so I encourage you to build a community of like-minded leaders. Remember that the journey towards environmental leadership is not solitary but a collective effort.

Again, congratulations to you all, and may your journey inspire others to follow your paths. Maraming salamat, po.