MVP to grads: Education a life-long process

MANILA, Philippines - Tycoon Manuel Pangilinan highlighted the importance of education outside the four corners of one’s school, saying that real education starts when one leaves the gates of the university.  

Pangilinan was the speaker at the 41st commencement exercises of Manila Tytana College, the education arm of George Ty-owned Metrobank Group. 

“Education is a continuous, life-long process. Your real education, in fact, starts when you leave the gates of this school. That is why today is named your day of commencement – a beginning,” Pangilinan said on Friday at the graduation ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). 

He also told the graduating class that they should learn from Ty, the founder of their school, and his mother Doña Victoria Ty-Tan, after whom the school is named. 

Pangilinan said Ty learned the real hard work of the banking business along the way. 

“He built Metrobank to become the largest Philippine bank and one of the strongest in Asia. He is the taipan of Philippine banking and its titan,” Pangilinan said of Ty. 

“Tytana expresses Dr. Ty’s profound belief in the value of education to our youth and its contribution to nation building. This conviction flows from the values of Doña Tytana herself - thrift, honesty, hard work, discipline,” he added.

Pangilinan said Ty’s story and values resonate in his own life. 

“I grew up in Little Baguio, San Juan. Our house stood right on the boundary of a squatter settlement. From my bedroom window, I could see, smell and feel the lives of the poor.  

“Through the window, I saw the quarrel of couples who are married and not, the people who fetch water from the deep well pump and canal, how the number of children increase like mushrooms every year and my childhood friends who depend on the lists of jueteng and debts.

“My lolo started as a public school teacher in Pampanga, rising through the ranks to become superintendent of public schools and eventually, secretary of education despite the fact that he did not finish college. My father began his career as a messenger at Philippine National Bank. My mother was simply a housewife. 

“When I was studying at San Beda elementary and high school, my daily allowance was only 25 cents – for Coke, MY San Crackers and bus fare. My life was the same during college at Ateneo. 

“After Ateneo, I took the risk of earning an MBA in America. I know that my parents could not anymore afford it, so I tried to find another way. Fortunately, Procter & Gamble offered a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. It was a national competition. I entered and won. 

“So my message to the students is that their education and struggle are the key to their success.

“My education played a big role in my life – just as it will in yours,” he added.

He also shared some secrets to success. 

“Success springs from old-fashioned values – values as fundamental as being honest and truthful – with yourself and with others. And so is being diligent, hard working and discipline,” she said.

“But most of all, success is about passion – passion to succeed, passion for excellence. Passion to compete. There are many of you here who were born poor but have succeeded in graduating today, some with honors. The examples of Darren delos Santos, Beatriz Oliva and Marione Yaoyao should lead us to believe that your passion can break the chains of poverty, that a spirit of purpose can propel your energy, that the power of ambition can enable you to achieve what you may now think is impossible,” he said.