TRANSCRIPT: Jessica Soho's speech at the UP College of Mass Communication graduation ceremony

Read the transcript of Soho's speech below.

Do you sometimes feel that the world is upside down and that things seem out of place? Parang wala sa tamang lugar ang mga bagay-bagay? Hindi ho kayo o tayo nag-iisa.

Dahil kamakailan lang may pag-aaral na nagsasabing tumagilid talaga ang mundo ng 31.5 inches dahil diumano sa sobrang extraction ng ground water. Parang iyung nangyayari po sa Metro Manila, Jakarta, Indonesia at kahit pa sa New York, lumulubog o nagkakaroon ng tinatawag na subsidence dahil daw sa sobrang pagsipsip o paggamit ng ground water. In the case of New York, also because of the weight of its skyscrapers.

Do you also sometimes get the feeling that the line between what we knew as good and bad seems to have been blurred?

And it seems like racists, extremists, conspiracy theorists, bad leaders and governments, war freaks and fake news purveyors are having a field day.

Siguro nga po hindi lang tumagilid ang mundo, baka bumaligtad pa!

Maybe literally and figuratively, nalihis din iyung tinatawag nating true North, o iyung ating sense of what is right and what is wrong. Sana hindi.

Gayunman, mataas ang kumpyansa ko sa mga bata ngayon. Mga Gen-Z pati na mga millennial na woke o mulat sa mga nangyayari sa mundo at sa ating lipunan.

Kaming mga batang 80s, Martial Law babies ang tawag dahil ipinanganak kami o hindi kaya nagkamulat sa ilalim ng iisang Presidente lamang.

Naalala ko na parang may duda dati sa aming kakayahan at kung kaya raw ba naming manindigan. Siguro naman, sa takbo ng mga pangyayari mula 1980s hanggang sa kasalukuyan, pasado naman kami.

Naniniwala ako na bawat henerasyong nagdaan, may pinagtagumpayan. Pero meron ding hindi, o iyung kung tawagin ng mga bata ngayon: “epic fail."

Ang mga Baby Boomer o ang henerasyon ng ating mga senior citizen ngayon, they thrived even after a world war, cholera, etc.

Actually I’m one year short to be called a Gen X, but this is THE generation I choose to identify with. Ibalato niyo na po sa akin.

There is one thing we, the Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers have obviously failed in, as in singko (5) ang aming grado, or to be more fair: “incomplete” o kuwatro (4).

It seems we have become too used to the reality we are still mired in, for far too long.

Inequality, poverty.

I feel we should be talking about these more at sana walang red-tagging at pagbibintang ng fomenting class war, etc. Kasi hindi naman puwedeng tone-deaf na lang tayo lagi o manhid sa napaka-obvious namang realidad natin pare-pareho.

Pag-usapan po natin. The first step in solving a problem is to talk about it.

It is surprising that during the pandemic, the rich managed to become even richer while the poor became poorer and increased in number. One hundred sixty-five million more since 2020 worldwide, according to a report from the United Nations Development Program or UNDP.

In fairness sa Pilipinas, ang sabi po ng World Bank in its report “Overcoming Poverty and Inequality in the Philippines: Past, Present and Prospects for the Future” in 2018, before the pandemic but released only November of last year, the Philippines has made important gains in poverty reduction. Bumaba raw ang poverty rate natin by two thirds, from 49.2 % in 1985 to 16.7% in 2018.

Again, please take note that the period covered by the study is only until 2018 or pre-pandemic.

According to the same report however, inequality in our country remains high. The top 1% of earners, meaning iyung pinakamayayaman, captured 17% of national income, with only 14% of this, shared by the bottom 50%.

The same report says the Philippines has one of the highest rates of income inequality in East Asia. Imagine that! The 1% got 17%, the bottom 50%, 14%.

The Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA, in its report released August 2022 said poverty incidence in the country went up to 18.1% in 2021 from 16.7% in 2018. The 18.1%, the PSA said, translates to around 20 million Filipinos who live below the poverty threshold of P12,030 pesos monthly for a family of five.

Hindi na ho nakapagtataka ang lahat ng data na ito. Poverty stares at us in the face, every single day. In our streets, in our communities and even in our homes with our kasambahays and their sad stories of poverty passed down from one generation to the other—unless someone manages to work abroad and breaks the cycle.

Nasanay na nga lang ba tayo at manhid na or ika nga ng mga bata ngayon, adjusted na adjusted na? Na sa mga stoplight sa kalye, may kumakatok sa ating mga sasakyan at nanghihingi ng konting barya?

Ako man, binabagabag po ng aking konsensya sa bagay na ito. Sa EDSA corner Timog po kasi, malapit sa aming opisina, laging may mga batang nanlilimos. Nung bandang 1990s, sa aking pagtatantya, maliliit pa sila. Ngayon, iyung mga batang iyun noon, meron nang mga anak, na kasa-kasama na rin nila sa panghihingi sa kalsada.

Sa aking palagay, kami sa media hindi naman nagkulang. Sa paglahad at pagkuwento tungkol sa kahirapang dinaranas ng marami nating mga kababayan, lalu na sa mga liblib na lugar. Mga batang buto’t balat, katulad ng ginawang dokyu ni Kara, ng KMJS at ng iba pang mga programa.

Sa dami at dalas nga po ng nailahad na naming mga kuwentong ganito, poverty porn ang bira sa amin. Pero ang tanong ko pa rin, how do we move the needle para dumami ang mga makalalagpas sa poverty line?

Kung hindi tayo, sino? Kung hindi ngayon, kelan? Ang sagot ko diyan: kayo na! Now na!

Iyan ang challenge ko sa mga magtatapos ngayon, at sa iba pang mga Gen-Z pati na sa mga Millennial. Kinulang man kaming mga nauna, andyan kayo para baguhin, punuan ang mga kailangan pa at tulungan ang nangangailangan nating mga kababayan.

Sa inyo kami umaasa ngayon lalu’t higit niyong naiintindihan ang bagong teknolohiya at tools na makatutulong sa inyo. Tiwala ako sa inyong kakayahan.

You guys are not only expressive and articulate—you use words for things we just took for granted in the past or simply accepted. Like gaslighting. Cancel culture.

Maybe I’m guilty of stereotyping or generalizing so please correct me if I’m wrong. Pero sa pakiwari ko, kaming mga laking 70s to 80s, maraming rules at boundaries. May templates na kailangan sundan at mas kaunti ang mga opportunidad.

Now with more barriers broken down and glass ceilings shattered and whole new worlds opening up, you have more opportunities, more platforms and playgrounds to showcase your skills and express your creativity.

And what better proof than social media? Think of all that energy you put in posting, surfing through your accounts and checking what your friends are doing. The power in your fingertips to make things go trending and viral. And make the world stop, watch and listen.

Kahit pa hindi niyo mapapayag si Taylor Swift na mag-concert dito. The wit and the spunk that go to creating all those memes, ang tataba ng mga utak niyo! Imagine if all that, ibuhos niyo rin in doing good and in changing lives and things for the better. Real, transformational change.

To improve the system and make it a more level playing field especially for those who don’t have much. A more fair, just and caring world and society.

But how to do all that? Maybe with baby steps or one small step at a time.

Ang turo sa amin sa TV, know your demographics or your target audience. The C2DE, ang higit na nakararami, ang masa. But for starters, do we know them enough?

Naalala ko pa, nung nag-uumpisa kaming mag-produce ng long-form stories on TV. Asterisk ang aming ratings, ni hindi po zero, ibig sabihin ganun siya ka-insignificant. Kasi raw, sabi ng isa sa aming mga boss that time, halatang-halata sa aming mga istorya na kaming mga producer iyung tipong mga nagta-taxi at hindi nagje-jeep—kahit pa laking ikot jeep naman kami dito sa UP. Nasa 55 centavos ang pamasahe dati, tandang-tanda ko pa.

Back to the question: Do we know our viewers enough or the majority of our population?

To begin with, I really find this question disturbing and bewildering and it begs the bigger and more important question: They’re the greater majority and yet do we know them? What does this say about our sense of community and country?

Maybe it’s true what they’ve been saying all along, we are still tribal. We stick to our kind or crowd and we don’t reach out far enough to those who are not. We don’t step out of our comfort zones and remain in our safe little silos and engage only with those in our own echo chambers or at least with those we can stand or like.

So how do we even begin to propose to change society? Paano mababago ang lipunan at matulungan ang higit na nakararami kung ni hindi sila kinakausap o pinapakinggan? Ano ba ang kanilang mga hinaing, mga pangarap sa buhay? Do you or we even care to know?

Laking probinsiya po ako. From La Union o Elyu sabi nga ng mga bata. Ang aking Lola Cion, my paternal grandmother ay nagtinda ng karne sa palengke ng San Fernando, La Union at nung bata ako, sinasamahan ko siya. Ang aking maternal grandmother na si Apo Baket, Sixta Aspiras, was a school teacher educated by the Thomasites and she lived in a barrio. Lagi siyang may pakape sa mga magsasaka at sa mga misis nila na ka-Maritesan niya.

Bukod sa proud promdi po ako, nagpapasalamat ako sa ganitong aking kinamulatan. Noong bata pa ako, tumira kami sa sentro ng bayan na siyudad na ngayon at nakapag-aral ako sa maayos na iskuwelahan ng mga madre.

Pero dahil din sa aking mga lola, alam ko at naranasan ko ang buhay palengke at ang buhay sa barrio. Ang exposure at immersion ko sa ganitong mga karanasan ay madalas ko pong nagagamit sa aking pagkukuwento tungkol sa buhay nating mga Pilipino. Sa iba’t ibang isyu sa ating lipunan na agad kong naiko-konek o nai-uugnay sa realities on the ground.

To our young graduates who will soon join our workforce, know your audience, know OUR people. Two words to remember by in life, at work or at play: Get real.

Bilang mga iskolar ng ating bayan, bahagi ng ating pasasalamat at paglingkod sa kanila na alamin at unawain ang kanilang realidad sa buhay pati na ang kanilang mga pananaw, salungat man ito sa atin.

Naalala ko pa ang madalas pag-usapan at pagdebatehan noong 1990s, kung hindi ako nagkakamali. Paano matutulungan ang hirap nating mga kababayan? Hihilain ba natin sila pataas o sasamahan sila at itutulak pataas. Anyare kaya sa mga usapang iyun, bakit parang hindi na umusad?

Baka lang po sabihin niyo, ano ba naman itong si Jessica Soho ang aga-aga, ang lungkot ng mga pinagsasabi. Balansehin po siguro natin. Graduates, another important word to live by: Balance. I think, alam na alam niyo iyan.

Bago ko isinulat ang aking speech, tinanong ko muna iyung ilan sa mga kasama ko sa trabaho kung ano ang observations nila tungkol sa mga bata ngayon, specifically iyung mga new hire sa aming organization. Lahat sila nagkakaisa: ang mga bata raw ngayon o ang mga Gen-Z, ang gusto ay work-life balance plus self-care, mental health break. Kasi sabi ni AC o ni Arlene Carnay ang aming Vice President sa Public Affairs, graduate din po ng UP CMC, nade-drain daw kasi ang kanilang “social battery."

Sabi ko naman, mabuti pa sila may ganern. Sana all.

Parang nai-imagine ko na kung kami kaya ang rumason ng ganiyan noon sa mga nakatatanda. Malamang ang sasabihin nila, “Anong work-life-work-life balance ka diyan. Mag-walis ka nga." Siguro nga, generational talaga ang mga bagay-bagay. It is never one size fits all.

Caveat nga lang dun sa inyong nagbabalak sumali rin sa amin sa media, sa trabahong walang respeto sa personal time at constant ang puyatan o sleep deprivation bukod sa paghahabol sa oras at deadlines. Work-life balance? The struggle is real.

Pero ayoko namang masiraan kayo ng loob. I still believe and feel that it is a privilege to be a journalist or a storyteller and be part of the profession of truth telling.

Hindi ko pa rin nakakalimutan iyung sinabi ng isa kong kaibigan noong kapapasok ko sa trabahong ito, 38 years ago. Sabi niya, "Imagine the power that you have. To report the news which helps people form their opinions about what’s going on." To our viewers and followers, thank you! Hindi niyo lang kami pinapapasok sa inyong mga tahanan; pati rin sa inyong isipan at sa inyong proseso ng pagpapasiya.

The times and things have changed; even the manner with which news is gathered, reported, processed and appreciated. Well, some would rather get their news now from social media and even from unverified sources. And the power or the responsibility to inform others is no longer just ours.

But I think some things remain the same. Old values still apply and I will always advocate upholding the truth, no matter what. And the power of stories to educate, inspire and change lives.

To our dear graduates, please do good and be good. Never stop caring. Try not to lose your idealism. Your UP education has to account for something. Be an advocate or an instrument for change! Take it from someone whose student number begins with 81. Wag lang student number niyo ang kabisadong-kabisado niyo.

More importantly, the codes of the university—honor and excellence—and in that order, dapat! In all that you do, be honest. Your integrity is non-negotiable.

Life is hard but it is still beautiful. You survived the pandemic, you can survive anything!

Never EVER give up—on yourself, on your dreams and on our people!

Congratulations, graduates! Mabuhay!