Second Secretary and Consul Grace Anne G. Bulos represented Ambassador Belen F. ANota at the Youth Forum organized by the Order of the Knights of Rizal (OKOR) Canberra Chapter which was entitled, “Rizal’s Legacy for the 21st Century: Progressive Education, Social Entrepreneurship and Community Development in Dapitan” held on 18 May 2014 at the Canberra Labor Club, Chandler St., Belconnen. Consul Bulos congratulated OKOR Canberra for successfully organizing the event. She encouraged attendees to emulate the teachings and values of Rizal and to take pride in the Philippines’ history and heritage, citing the saying, “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa patutunguhan”. She also urged everyone to continue showing love and concern for one another, and for the Motherland.
“One way of showing our love for our country is to actively participate in nation building”, Ms. Bulos said. She took the opportunity to remind those eligible to register as overseas voters for the upcoming 2016 Presidential elections and to do their share in choosing the next leaders of the Philippines.
Sir Dr. Floro Quibuyen, PhD, a renowned Filipino academic was the keynote speaker and the lecturer at the Forum. He holds a PhD in Political Science and MA in Anthropology from the University of Hawaii where he also worked as a lecturer, BA in Philosophy from UP Diliman, and Diploma in Community Services Work in Sydney. He received a Plaque of Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking awarded by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines, Cultural Center of the Philippines. He has worked professionally in commercial TV in the Philippines, and in community TV and corporate video production in Hawaii. Dr. Quibuyen is the author of many books, among them “A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony and Philippine Nationalism” rated as one of the most provocative books on Philippine historiography”, and declared as the “best book on Rizal over the past half century” by Filipino historians.
In his talk, Dr. Quibuyen pictured how Dr. Jose Rizal, though exiled in Dapitan, kindly and generously shared and offered himself, his time, talents, and resources for the benefit and common good of the community. Dapitan was transformed into an active and more progressive community through the bayanihan and volunteerism of the locals in works and projects initiated by Dr. Rizal . He put up a school with free education, hospital, and introduced the cooperative as a social entrepreneurship initiative.
Dr. Quibuyen ended his lecture by encouraging the audience to honor Dr. Rizal by imitating his virtues. He enlightened the audience on Rizal’s concept of a nation as a “boat”, thus, all rise up or all sink, with the idea of reciprocity, cooperation and sharing of one’s talent, energy, love and compassion for the benefit of all.
