A former Philippine government official was chosen by her graduating class of more than 200 at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University to deliver a speech on their behalf.
Clare de Guzman Amador, a Mason fellow, took up a degree in Master in Public Administration. The 35-year-old Pinay is the first Filipino to be chosen to speak for a Kennedy class during commencement week last May 22. She faced a selection process, including nominations, auditions, before zeroing in on the final student to speak in the graduation.
She served as chief of staff of former budget secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and was an undersecretary at the department at the age of 32. She was one of the youngest to hold this post in the bureaucracy.
“We survived. We survived even when we thought we wouldn’t. We lived through war, disaster, discrimination, cancer. We constantly wrestled with the loss of faith. We struggled with the loss of loved ones. We rose from being judged, dismissed, attacked,” Amador told her class.
As for her next plans, she mulls of teaching and seeking other opportunities to serve, but not as a public official.
“It’s time to go back and fight our battles,” Amador said.
Source and photo credit: Rappler
