Batch 67 had a reunion at the Dusit Hotel on February 10, 2009. The reunion started with a mass officiated by Fr. Dan Sta Maria (ChE batch' 63). Guests included former Deans Francisco G. Reyes and Alberto Laurito. Also present were faculty members of Batch 67 and the present set of department chairs of the Faculty of Engineering. An opening speech by Justice Arturo Brion shown below reminded everyone of the importance of "Payback" - giving back and sharing blessings now that they are in the summit of their successful lives. The members of Batch67 presented dances that wowed the audience and provided fun and enjoyment to the affair. See pictures at the bottom of the page.

Speech by:  Justice Arturo Brion
Batch 67 Reunion

Justice Brion studied at UST up to his 4th year in ChE

It was with these thoughts that I left the relative financial security to private law practice to engage in government work. I am still here today and happy where I am.
I relate all these to introduce the idea of PAYBACK that I would like to explore with you tonight. How about your own payback for all the blessings you have received? I confidently ask you this because the blessings that I enjoyed I also see Batch '67. It is a batch that is many times blessed. This is obvious to me just by looking at the materials that Jane, Frank and Romy have very nicely sent me.
The members of Batch '67, too are at that point in their lives when the main life goals have been accomplished: when the children are off on their own and many now only go home to empty nests; when there are no more mortgages to pay; when the problem of day-to-day survival is now on automatic mode and is well within control. The problem, in fact, for some is how to spend their time meaningfully. You may ask: who will receive our payback? Can the efforts of one engineering class be meaningful? Are there needs in contemporary Philippine society that we can address,?
I am sure that those of you who have been watching what is happening in our country would be aware of the avalanche of problems that continue to swamp us. We are lucky the newspapers have not called it a continuing tsunami, but name a problem and we probably have some measure of it, particularly those rooted in the pervasive poverty that affects every aspect of Philippine life. The kind of politics we have is ultimately traceable to poverty -the need for patronage of every kind makes the greater number of our people rely on the few who have the economic means to control politics. The graft and corruption we hear is also ultimately traceable to the poverty that fosters a "dog eat dog" survivalist mentality that already borders on being a cultural trait. The "hiya" identified with the dirty money is beginning to fade, and may be gone before we know it. Population control and environmental protection are still at the most basic levels, and we can only hope we are not too late that we can, in due time, catch up.
Most importantly, education - the element that brought us together at UST and that served as passports to our productive lives - may now be far different from what our generation knew. The quality of education has greatly suffered, leaving our current students with chances lesser that what we had when we left school to begin our professional lives. The idea of payback, of course, is not to out there and save this country. We already have enough of these saviors and we may only add to the confusion. Nor does the idea necessarily require us to go back to the Philippines and act from within Philippine society. The idea I have in mind is to serve anywhere we are located by concentrating, through our collective efforts, on a very small aspect of Philippine life, preferably identified with yourselves as Thomasian engineers, and to focus on that aspect so that at the end of the day we can tell ourselves we have made a difference, however small it may be, on a matter that we hold dear.
To cite to you a concrete and familiar example of what others have done, the Gawad Kalinga of the Couples for Christ focuses solely on the problem of housing and is a runaway success in what it is doing. To further define the idea of payback for what it is not, let me clarify that the idea is not to give for the sake of giving; it is not a general act of charity. What is important is that it embodies an act that is meaningful to us because it is our way of sharing, circulating and re-circulating the blessings we have enjoyed and are still enjoying.
The idea is in a large sense a show of gratitude to God, our country, our school, our parents and our community for their selfless support and contributions when we were on our way up. It may be the unique and indelible mark that Batch '67 will leave on Philippine society. It is in these senses that I put forward the idea of payback and ask you: is payback a concept of Batch '67 would want to at least examine, collectively embrace and eventually implement.
For now, consider these thoughts as seeds that I am merely planting. Likely any true seed, we have to give it time to take root. With the roots in place, we have to nourish it with the water of care, time and attention for it to fully flourish. Hence, I do not expect that you would immediately react, one way or the other, to the idea of payback. There will be time enough for this. The exchange of ideas and collation of our collective thoughts are just a keyboard click or a phone call away so that future communication will not be a problem.
What is important for now is to simply open our minds to the idea of payback. Its full examination, the will to act and the plans and collective efforts can come later. As a parting caveat, I have to warn you that a payback may substantially and significantly change the annual reunion you know today. An annual reunion thrives on memories and mainly looks at the past, with the present as the farthest point of the perspective; a payback mainly looks to the future, merely using the past as a background. An annual reunion and a payback project combine the past, the present and the future, and give more meaning to the class linkages that started in UST 46 years ago. For now, II can only assure you that a payback is worth doing and will leave you happy and fulfilled. In away, I have been there and I will be with you if you will give it a try. I close on this note and leave you with these thoughts. A pleasant evening to one and all.