Kapuluan

By JJ Calero in Business World

Someone once said, "It’s a pity that youth is wasted on the young." It’s obvious that this gentleman did not have the benefit of getting to know or read St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer’s writings. The saint, who devoted a great deal of his life with young people, felt that it’s the young that can change this world for the better.

Opus Dei, which means Work of God, founded by St. Josemaria Escriva on Oct. 2, 1928, when he was only 26 years old, naturally gravitated to the young. He would fondly say that when he started Opus Dei, he only had youth, grace of God, and sense of humor. It’s in the young where St. Josemaria found a strong sense of idealism that, when properly harnessed, has a very strong multiplier effect.

Eight-one years after he was given this grace by our Lord, Opus Dei continues with programs for the young. In the Philippines, centers for students have been set up in Metropolitan Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, and Bacolod.

One such center, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, is Kapuluan, which caters to students who have education as their main priority.

To add impetus to the study program, the center gathers university students and prominent individuals for conferences where diverse issues are discussed.

Among these activities is the Universitas Student Conference (USC). This year’s conference theme is "Think, Speak, Lead." It forms part of the K25 Leadership Forum, the center’s silver anniversary project. All the speakers are K25 Professional Mentors.

On the first day, they had Isidro Sobrecarey speak about corporate and personal values. He stressed that "there is no pretension to leadership, you are a leader day-in and day out, wherever you are."

"You can judge a leader," Mr. Sobrecarey said, "by the way he treats his household help." The way he treats his household help will be manifested in the way he treats his employees.

Dr. Jose "Lito" Sandejas, the second speaker, spoke about the seven basic habits starting with jumping out of bed the moment the alarm clock rings, which he called the "heroic minute."

"This is the first battle of the day," he said referring to the way one responds to the alarm clock. He enumerated the six other battles thus: faithfulness to responsibility; maintaining a good emotional bank account; being a lifelong learner; being more proactive than re-active; gaining the act of self-examination (he said "it is harder to get lost if we examine ourselves regularly"); and "the need to be physically fit."

The second day had Dr. Benardo Villegas, a renowned economist, TOYM awardee, and a member of the 1987 Constitutional Commission. He gave a most interesting talk on the financial crisis gripping the world economy.

A ray of hope descended when, comparing the 1930 Great depression and today, he said that he felt the current financial crisis is more manageable, adding that the world’s economy is now more progressive. But he cautioned that full recovery cannot happen overnight; rather, the tasks required must be shared by many inspired young leaders, a generation that can see the problem, make a solution, and produce results. He couldn’t have found a better audience and a more favorable response from the participants.

On the third day, Vic Villegas focused on encouraging the students to practice virtues all the time. "Practice! Practice! Practice!" he said. He shared Malcom Gladwell’s 10,000-hour-practice rule.

Engineer Manny Palomo of Nokia ended the USC with a fun and informative lecture about upcoming trends in telecommunications. This session was more scientific in nature.

This was just the first of many activities of the K25 Leadership Forum with its Professional Mentors serving as its guest speakers.

In later forums, Sid Garcia, a district governor of Rotary International, spoke about his core values of service, excellence, and integrity. He encouraged the conference fellows to be beacons of hope "because there is so much helplessness around us." Lito Cruz, SVP of Zuellig Pharma, shared his leadership experiences here and abroad and challenged the fellows to outdo themselves and be of service to God and fellowmen.

Dr. Jesus Estanislao gave an extensive talk on leadership, saying that it is all about guiding people to higher goals. But he said that one has to lead oneself: self-governance comes first. Ramon Fernandez spoke about excellence and Gerry Siquijor about having initiative. Atty. Ferdi Fider spoke about intellectual property rights. And Joey Cuisia, MAP’s 2007 Management Man of the Year, discussed the importance of leadership by example.

Two upcoming speakers promise to be just as interesting. They are Wilfred Uytengsu, Jr., president & CEO of Alaska Milk Corporation, and Bernie Liu, president of Golden ABC, Inc.. Both are K25 Professional Mentors and their companies are also partners of the Leadership Forum, together with Tagaytay Highlands, Trinity Insurance Brokers, Inc., National Bookstore, and Albergus Catering.

Among the other K25 Professional Mentors expected to exchange ideas with the fellows are broadcast journalist Mike Enriquez, MAP Chairman Joey Bermudez, executives Melo Bautista, Mar Gatus, Johnny Guevara, Dom Gavino, PJ Garcia, Ronnie Merino, and Toto Tansingco.

The K25 Leadership Forum has a unique mentoring program. Each fellow is given a Regular Mentor, one of the Kapuluan staff, and a Professional Mentor. The Regular Mentor focuses on personal formation and the Professional Mentor on professional formation.

Who knows what will become of these fellows who are molded to be "leaders with strong work ethic, deep piety, and a sense of service" — and how much good they can do for our country.

If you have a son or grandson in university, you may want him to consider joining in Kapuluan’s next program. Have him call Oliver Tuason, director of the center, at 9220613.