Vico Sotto to UP Law graduates: 'When in doubt, choose faith, conscience, and integrity'

Below is Sotto's full speech:

Mga kababayan!

To the officials of the University of the Philippines, including its constituent universities, headed by our president, Attorney Angelo Jimenez. To the officials of UP Diliman, headed by its Chancellor, Attorney Edgardo Carlo Vistan II. To the officials of the... hindi ko na po isa-isahin, ang haba po ng listahan. Allow me to be a little bit irreverent, and please allow me to dispense with the formalities. But of course, I have to thank all of the officials, faculty, and staff of the university, especially of the College of Law. And most especially, to another former professor and to our beloved dean, Ma'am Gwen [Grecia-De Vera], maraming, maraming salamat po.

Hindi lang po talaga ako makatanggi kay Ma'am Gwen, kaya po ako nandito sa harapan ninyo ngayon. Pero sa totoo lang po, para akong nagkaka-PTSD ngayon, mga professor ko ay nasa likuran ko. Pero kunyari na lang, hindi ko sila nakikita at sa inyo na lang po ako titingin. 

To the class of 2026 of the UP College of Law, congratulations po sa inyong lahat. At hindi lang po ang mga graduates ang ico-congratulate ko. Alam kong masaya ang mga graduates natin pero siguro, halos kasing saya ng mga graduates natin ang mga family members na nandito, lalo na po ang mga magulang, congratulations po to the family, especially to the parents. 

To our graduates, I'm sure you don't need any more personal inspiration. If you're not already extremely inspired on the day of your graduation, hindi ko po alam kung paano pa akong makakatulong sa inyo. I'm sure your inspiration levels are already at the highest. 

As UP Law graduates, you know what it takes. I'm sure each and every one of you will succeed in your future careers. So let's zoom out a little bit. Maiksi lang po 'yung mensahe ko. Sa totoo, four pages lang po ito. Kung mabitin po kayo at gusto niyo po ng mga personal advice, ng payo mula sa akin, may mga video naman po ako sa YouTube. Like and subscribe.

You know, many times as a government official who has been trying his best to fight against the old norms, mga lumang kalakaran, as someone who has been trying to fight for positive reforms and changes in our government, I have to admit to you that many times I feel frustrated. Almost every day, at a certain point each day, I feel a certain level of frustration, and if I were to be completely honest with you, sometimes I do feel a lack of hope. 

Parang ang bigat naman sabihin na hopeless, but the truth is, sometimes I do feel hopeless. But standing here on this stage in front of you right now, looking at your glowing faces, looking at the class of 2026, I feel hopeful again. I feel a resurgence of hope in my heart, looking at all of you. 

Tingnan niyo po 'yung katabi ninyo. Tingnan po 'yung nasa kaliwa't kanan ninyo. Do you feel hopeful when you look at them? I've seen some of your posts on social media, some of your angry posts. I've heard that many of you have attended anti-corruption rallies, and part of the reason why I'm hopeful for our country and part of the reason I'm hopeful for the future of our country is that I know that you care, you're not apathetic. 

But I also know that as we progress in our careers and in our lives, that we will continuously realize that things are probably a little bit more complicated than they are at face value. We will continue to realize that maybe some problems may be a little harder to untangle than it would first appear. We see things like the flood control scandal and we take a step back, look closely and say, 'Hindi ba parang 'yun din naman 'yung nangyari 10 or 15 years ago, sa Napoles scam, sa PDAF scam?' 

Ano ba nangyari nun? Opo, may nakulong pero lahat ba nakulong? Tingnan natin 'yung nangyayari ngayon, parang umulit lang. Hindi lang umulit, pero parang mas malaki pa 'yung mga halaga, 'yung mga amount na pinag-uusapan natin ngayon kumpara sa 10 or 15 years ago. At ano ba 'yung nangyayari ngayon? Opo, may mga nakulong na, pero huwag na po tayo maglokohan, sa isang libo na sangkot—and there are more than a thousand who are involved—sa isang libo na sangkot, ilan po kaya makukulong at mapapanagot? Baka masaya na tayo 'pag may limampu na mapakulong at mapanagot dun sa ilang libo na involved po dito.

It won't always be easy to remain hopeful, and it will be even harder to stay the course and maintain your integrity as professionals and the citizens of our Republic. 

Alam niyo, kapag nag-iikot po ako sa iba't ibang paaralan o kaya kapag may mga bisita ako na estudyante o young leaders, ang pinakamadalas nilang tinatanong ay, 'Mayor Vico, papaano ako hindi makakain ng sistema? Or some variant thereof, how do I maintain my integrity if I want to enter in government? Not necessarily even in government, how do I maintain my integrity? How do I stand up against a boss who's pressuring me to do a certain thing that I know is immoral, illegal, or unethical?' 'Yan po ang pinakamadalas na tinatanong sa akin ng mga kabataan, ng mga batang leader, lalo na kapag nag-uumpisa sa kanilang mga karera.

Today, you're entering a new chapter in your lives, and pretty soon, you're going to find yourselves at a crossroads. But perhaps before we answer that question that many were probably asking, we should first ask, 'How did we as a society get here? How did we as a country—paano ba tayo nakarating dito, kung nasaan tayo ngayon? To a place where justice seems to bend deeply in favor of the rich and powerful? Where the law is harsh, but only if you are not well-connected. Where in many situations, it seems like the only way to succeed is if you play the game. A game where amongst the successful, whether in the public or private sector, it is more common than not to engage in corrupt and unethical behavior.'

Nung isang linggo lamang, wala ako sa meeting pero nandun yung city administrator ko. Meron po nagpo-propose po sa amin, unsolicited proposal for a certain service in the city government. At 'yung tanong ng side namin sa kanila, magkano ba 'yung serbisyo? Ano 'yung annual fees? Ano 'yung maintenance fees? 

Ang tinanong nila sa aking administrator, sa aking CA, magkano ba, ilang percent ba 'yung [Standard Operating Procedure] sa Pasig City? 'Yung city admin ko, medyo nahawa na po sa akin, kapag may mga ganun tanong, medyo mainit na ang ulo, at sabi niya, 'Huwag niyo kami tanungin ng ganyan. Zero percent ang SOP namin, wala kaming ganyan sa Pasig,' sabi niya.

Alam niyo 'yung reaction nung nagpo-propose? Sabi niya, 'Ha? Talaga? Zero percent? Totoo pala. Walang SOP sa Pasig. Akala namin sa balita lang 'yun. Akala namin sabi-sabi lang 'yun. Totoo pala.' Sa madaling salita, parang nakarating na tayo sa punto kung saan mas nakakagulat pa kapag may nakasalubong kang honest kaysa sa corrupt. 

Hindi ko po 'yun sinasabi para magbuhat ng sariling bangko, kundi 'yan po 'yung karanasan ko na parang mas maraming nagugulat kapag nalaman na may honest. Hindi lang na mayor, pero lahat, kapag nalaman na 'yung department head, hindi nanghihingi ng porsyento, nagugulat yung mga kontratista. Nagugulat 'yung mga nagbibigay ng serbisyo sa pamahalaan. Nagugulat ang iba't ibang tao lalo na 'yung mga sanay na sanay na. 

How did we get here? How did we, as a society, as a government, as a country, get here? At ang totoo, madaling mamuna. Madaling maghanap ng mali sa ating kapwa. Mas lalong madaling mamuna kapag nakikita natin 'yung mga mali, mga hindi magandang balita sa television, sa social media. At tama naman 'yun, 'di ba? Karapatan natin, tungkulin natin na sitahin ang mga public officials natin lalo na.

But before we aim to change society in the entire government, maybe we should look inwards first. Let's zoom in first. And maybe we should aim to better ourselves first.

Sa Facebook, galit tayo sa corrupt, pero kapag may exam tayo, nandaraya tayo. There will come a time when you will have a boss, you'll work for a firm, or any other company that accepts as standard the practices of bribing judges, policy makers, regulatory agencies. There will come a time when you become part of a team, an office, a local government unit, where they say there is a standard operating procedure, an SOP, or an automatic kickback, maybe of 10%, 20%, or maybe more. If you run for public office, the veterans are likely to tell you that you will not win unless you buy votes. If you work for a private firm, perhaps the management will ask you to falsify a record, misdeclare your earnings, or otherwise engage in fraud and deceit. You may be asked or tempted to contribute to the ecosystem of disinformation, misinformation, or wherever life takes you, you will eventually be pressured by others. Or tempted by circumstance into crossing ethical boundaries, compromising your principles, and breaking your integrity.

Now, let's go back. How did we get here as a society? We could talk and debate for hours, each of us, as many people as there are in this theater, we'll have the same number of opinions, different theories, but let's not forget that everything big started out as something small. Everything systemic, everything that has been institutionalized, started out with one decision, with one small practice. Institutionalized ba ang kickback sa DPWH, or rigged bidding sa DPWH? Hindi naman po 'yan nagsimula na ganyan na siya, sistema na siya, institutionalized na siya.

Nagsimula 'yan sa isang kontrata, nagsimula 'yan sa maliit na padulas, nagsimula 'yan sa maliit na bribe. And progressively it got bigger and bigger. Sabi nga sa commercials, great things start with small beginnings. Kung sino 'yung naisip niyong atleta, doon po makikita kung ano po 'yung edad ninyo. 'Yung mga nasa entablado, ang naisip si Bea Lucero. 'Yung mga graduates, pareho po tayo, Carlos Yulo lang naabutan natin.

Now, the question is, okay, so ito na 'to, nandito na 'yung corruption, nandito na 'yung malakihang problema ng ating bayan, mga lumang kalakaran na hindi natin matali-talikuran. What can I do? And papaano? Muli po, babalik tayo sa unang tanong: paano ako makakasiguro na hindi ako kakainin ng sistema? Maraming pwedeng sabihin, pero habang naghahanda po ako para sa mensahe na ito—sabi ko kanina maiksi pero hawak ko na po 'yung mic, siguro mga dalawang oras po tayo dito.

Habang naghahanda ako, meron akong nahanap na listahan na ginawa ko several years ago. I think I was already a mayor. I don't even remember what year I wrote this. But it's actually a list of things that serve as a reminder to myself. So you can adopt it or not, pero para sa akin, nakatulong po ito.

These are ten things. There are more, but these are ten things that I have done, and I try to continue to do that help me from being eaten by the system. And these are ten things, but I'll read it in 60 seconds. I just want to put it out there.

Number one, preparation is more important than courage. Number two, make a list of non-negotiables and review them regularly. Number three, when in doubt, choose faith, conscience, and integrity over money, power, and ambition. Number four, study cognitive dissonance and continuously identify how and where it affects you, your decision-making, and opinion-forming. Number five, get out of your echo chamber from time to time. Number six, check your ego every single day. Number seven, have people in your life who share the same or similar principles, values, and beliefs. Number eight, allow said people to keep you grounded. Number nine, give these people the license to hold you accountable. And number ten, have a healthy level of respect but also be willing to go against the status quo. 

Alam niyo, 'yung ginawa po namin sa Pasig o 'yung sinusubukan namin gawing sa Pasig, hindi siya perpektong modelo. Malayong malayo siya sa perpekto. Marami rin kaming pagkakamali. Ako, marami akong pagkukulang, kapalpakan pa nga. Pero siguro, 'yung kahalagahan ng ginawa namin o ginagawa namin sa ating lokal na pamahalaan ng Pasig ay pinakita namin na kahit mahirap, posible ang pagbabago ng luma at bulok na sistema. Posibleng talikuran ang mga lumang kalakaran kahit matagal na itong nakaugat sa ating mga institusyon, sa ating sistema, maging sa ating kultura.

The headlines you see today are just a small, or rather just a byproduct of small incremental steps that we, not just me, but a lot of people took for years. And many of the things that you see now, the successes that we have that maybe you see me, but the reality is a lot of the things that I was able to do 'til 2019, ay kasi may mga lumaban mula noong 2004, 2007, may mga nauna sakin. They paved the way for me. The little things they did that maybe today no one would even remember paved the way for me and for us now starting in 2019. 

Whether you like it or not, you, the class of 2026, will determine the future of our nation. Will change be possible? Will we be forever trapped in this vicious cycle of inequality and poverty, of corruption and injustice? I'm sure that you and I are the same. We believe that change is possible, that as a nation we can, we are, and we will move forward. Though sometimes it may be difficult to see, the trajectory of our nation is positive. It's upward. Patunay na lang dito, kung nasa time machine ka, pwede kang mamili kung saan ka titira, 1896, 1945, 1986, or 2026. 

I think if we will be purely objective, isipin lang natin quality of life para sa iyong sarili, para sa iyong pamilya, most likely you will choose 2026. And I think that's proof that the trajectory of our history and of our nation is upward. Ang tanong na lang, kung gaano ba tayo kabilis papunta dun sa mas magandang bayan, sa mas magandang sitwasyon para sa ating mga kababayan. 

How fast we go will be determined not by the president—although of course leaders are important—not by some charismatic leader. There will be no savior for our nation, but how fast we go will depend on you, the incoming generation of leaders and change makers.

Changing perspectives, reversing destructive norms and practices, how fast these all happen will depend on you. When you find yourself at the crossroads, will you choose the easier, more convenient path to success? Or will you stand with integrity? Will you stand for truth and justice?

Towards a better nation, there will be no shortcuts. But if this next generation of leaders, including the class of 2026, if your generation will rise up as we have seen you already beginning to do, perhaps our nation will be in for a pleasant surprise.

To the class of 2026, may you become great lawyers who will live not only with excellence, but more importantly, with integrity. May you always choose to fight on the side of truth, fairness, and for the rule of law. May God bless you and your future careers. May God bless you and your families. And I look forward to everything that the future has in store for you. I look forward to witnessing you change our nation.

Mabuhay ang Class of 2026!