A lawyer based in Los Angeles, California, Francis has never forgotten his Bicolano roots. He has made it a point to give back to the youth of his native land, the same opportunities given him when his was a young dreamer in the small town of Goa, Bicol. Armed with a law degree from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, Francis proved to himself and to his kababayans that "good guys don’t have to finish last."
I first wrote about the Francis Padua Papica Leadership Foundation several columns ago. I asked him why he comes every year to do all this. His answer? "The glimmer of hope in the eyes of the kids." During his foundation’s fourth annual leadership convention, held in Pili, Bicol last week, I saw for myself what Francis and his foundation are trying to achieve.
The convention was an all-day affair, beginning at 8 a.m., with speakers, Sen. Loren Legarda, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Korina Sanchez who spoke on various topics in the morning, while Francis, Vince Hizon and myself spoke about coping with life’s many challenges in the afternoon. This was followed by an open forum which lasted until sundown.
Speaker after speaker, the thousand or more kids remained eager to listen and asked intelligent, even insightful questions. I was touched by the hunger for knowledge and inspiration of these Bicolano kids. I, too, saw the glimmer of hope in their eyes. I understood why Francis flies several thousands of miles across the ocean, donating a substantial amount of his hard-earned income (not even tax deductible, since he works and earns in America) to organize, not only an annual leadership convention with various key speakers each year, but to promote other worthy endeavors to uplift the lives of his young kababayans.
Aside from the convention, the foundation is granting college scholarships to graduating high school students from schools all over Bicolandia. Each accredited high school is given a free hand in selecting deserving students who exemplify outstanding academic and leadership qualities. During last week’s convention, Francis awarded full college scholarships to 20 more high school seniors, who may enroll at a college or university of his/her choice anywhere in the Philippines, adding to over a hundred scholars of the foundation to date.
The Francis Papica Foundation also sponsors livelihood projects in the same accredited schools. These schools are granted P10,000, where the students are given an opportunity to create their chosen "livelihood project" such as a quail egg farm. The students are directly responsible for the project and its income, with only an adult moderator monitoring the project.
The idea is to give young people a chance to take responsibility for and learn the value of money. Each month, a certain amount from the project’s income is deposited in an account, until the entire capital is paid. This amount is then used to fund another livelihood project, for either the same or a different school. Such an activity not only teaches responsibility, but also encourages creativity, ingenuity, and teamwork among young people.
Francis does not stop there. This year he has launched the foundation’s newest project: Read to Achieve. At the end of the year, he will sponsor a concert, featuring some of the country’s popular singers and bands (as he did in 2001, when his foundation, in partnership with the Vince Hizon Foundation, held back-to-back concerts in Manila). The entrance tickets to this year-end concert cannot be paid in cash  but by reading books. Through Francis’ ceaseless efforts, he sends balikbayan boxes filled with donated books from the United States, and distributes them to various schools around Bicolandia. With cooperation from the teachers, each student is encouraged to read at least five books until the end of the year. Each book that is read is equivalent to one stamp on a ticket. Five stamps on said ticket will give a student access to the year-end concert. What a great deal  the student is rewarded for reading and learning! Certainly, the long-term reward is the enrichment of the mind.
Most, if not all of the projects of the Francis Padua-Papica Foundation, can be a model for a nationwide campaign for promoting education and youth achievement. Francis is not only an extraordinary balikbayan, he is an extraordinary Filipino. Perhaps, he does not only make politicians in this country look bad for not doing a better job, but makes many of us seem inadequate. Certainly, this is not his intention, but through his example, I have seen that "It is in giving of the self that one truly gives."