Dellosa: Education key to peace and progress

LUCENA CITY, Philippines  – Armed Forces chief of Maj. Gen. Jessie Dellosa said here on Friday that he remains convinced that hard work and dedication toward getting a decent education will be the country’s ticket to peace and progress.

Dellosa was the guest of honor at the turnover of two classrooms donated by Dr. and Mrs. Alfonso Siy and the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) in Region 4 headed by its regional executive director, Dr. Roberto Licup Sr., to the Lucena West I Elementary School.

In his speech, Dellosa recalled his own experience growing up as the second child of 11 siblings raised by his father, who was then a member of the Philippine Constabulary.

“I used to walk four kilometers from the camp to go to school,” Dellosa told an audience of school officials, teachers, students, parents, and city officials.

After high school, Dellosa said his admission to the Philippine Military Academy ensured his education as well as a career.

“Although my father was a soldier I had no plans of being a soldier myself at first, but… it is destiny and fate that I am now chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he said.

“As you know I handle the everyday affairs and inherent difficulties our Armed Forces faces every day. It is a position that I would not have reached without hard work at school,” Dellosa reminded students and parents.

“Education ensures that children will become useful members of the community and be in a position to help themselves and the country; without working to ensure education for our children, they will end up on the streets as vagrants and drug addicts,” he said.

Licup, for his part, said the FFCCCI “will continue working with the national and local government to undertake projects that uplift the community and improve the standards of education and health care among Filipinos.”

After the formal signing of the memorandum of agreement, Dellosa, Licup and other members of FFCCCII, including Enrique Chua, Robert Ang, Tan Teng Li, Licup’s son Nelson, and Lucena City Mayor Ruby Talaga led the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the formal turnover of the donated classrooms to the Lucena West I Elementary School.

Later in the day, Dellosa, a keynote speaker during a ceremony honoring him as one of the outstanding sons of Quezon by Gov. David Suarez, was conferred the “Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan” during the occasion of the 134th birth anniversary of former President Manuel Luis Quezon held at the provincial convention center here.