Villabas, Vilpa P.

LLB 1 Date: May 13, 2016 Speech to

Inspire

Hellen Keller once said, “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy,

and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” These words remain an inspiration to

our fellow Filipinos with disabilities.

Over the past few years, the Philippine National Council on Disability Affairs gives

recognition to persons with disabilities who have maximized their potential as productive citizens.

The council wants to emphasize three things. First, disability is only a matter of perception. Just

because these people have to live with physically and mentally challenging conditions doesn’t

mean that their world ends there. Like each and every one of us, our actions are our fate. Second,

our PWDs deserve our utmost respect for they are agents of infinite courage. It is they who

persevere to show the world that they are not cut off from mainstream society and they are capable

of regularly keeping their jobs like the rest of us. And lastly, we should be proud of them, for they

are living example of persons who were able to find the strength to persevere and endure in spite

of the obstacles.

The recipient of this year’s Outstanding PWD Achievement Award is Mr. Ronnel del Rio.

A broadcast journalist since 1996, he discussed national issues as well as issues that the community

of PWDs in the Philippines faced. He is part of the Philippine Coalition on the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and is the chief executive officer of Punlaka

— a PWD advocacy group based in Region IV. He may be blind but he’s a man with much vision

for everyone, not just his fellow PWDs. He also works as a Housing and Homesite Regulatory

Affairs Officer for the government of Batangas. There, he pushed for the Viable Socialized

Resettlement Program wherein idle land is taken under consideration to become housing projects
for the underprivileged in Batangas. He is also the first blind person to earn a Master’s degree in

the Philippines, having studied Management Technology in De La Salle University in 2003.

Del Rio has done exactly that, inspiring Filipinos to believe that human as we are, we can

do a lot for others. For that, he deserves our respect and our gratitude. On behalf of the National

Council on Disability Affairs, I would like to congratulate Mr. Ronnel del Rio, on receiving this

prestigious honour. It is well deserved. Your dedication has proved to us that the human spirit is

one of ability, perseverance, and courage that no disability can steal away. One has to align one’s

thoughts and speech to imagine possibilities and that which seemed impossible is suddenly within

reach.