Message from the Guest Speaker Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. at the FLP Awards Ceremony on September 16, 2026 at the Main Lounge, Manila Polo Club, Makati City.
First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, Former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban Jr.; my old friend, Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr.; board members and beneficiaries of this Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity; good evening po.
And thank you, Governor Say [Tetangco], for that far-too-generous introduction. I must say, Say is biased.
To the scholars, fellows, and dissertation awardees, congratulations!
As men and women in the early stages of your career, I hope you appreciate the advocacy of CJ Art [Panganiban] and his Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity.
Liberty can be the freedom to choose your education. Your career. Or the life you want to build. You can choose to be a lawyer. [A] mathematician. An economist. Even a central banker!
Whatever path you take, you can create prosperity. For yourself. For a community. For the country.
Governor Say just told you that institutions are about choices. He is right, of course. He is always right.
And he asked the question that matters most: “In whom do we invest?”
Look around the room: the scholars, the fellows, the awardees. That is the Foundation’s answer.
Here is the part we don’t always see. Opportunity rarely arrives by luck. It arrives through institutions. A school that grants a scholarship. A foundation that funds a dissertation. A court that upholds a right.
An institution is how a society opens a door, not once, but again and again, for people it will never meet.
CJ Art and I know each other very well. We both went to [Victorino] Mapa High School in Manila and missed each other by just a few years.
In college, one of us took the bus everyday. The other chose one college over another just to save a 15-centavo bus fare. We both got scholarships that allowed us to learn and lead, and make it to positions where we could serve and give back.
I truly admire CJ Art for the opportunities he has given you and others like you. Opportunities like these are precious. Make the most of them. Learn, and lead, and serve.
And just as someone opened the door for you, someday, when you get the chance, you can open the doors for others.
Help them turn the liberty into prosperity for themselves, their communities, and the Filipino People.
Again, congratulations to all the awardees. Mabuhay!
