#VSUGrad2026 | Cluster 1 Commencement Address of Dr. Joselito F. Villaruz

Good afternoon, Class of 2026.

My heartfelt congratulations. You survived. The pandemic, online classes, brownouts, typhoons, thesis and dissertation defense, and grueling examinations. If that's not determination and grit, I don't know what is.

Can I be honest with you?

I have only set foot in Visayas State University twice. And both times changed this university. The first time, I sat in a room as part of the search committee to help choose who would lead this university. We weren't looking for the smartest person then. We were looking for someone who would protect VSU's soul, its service to farmers, to communities, to the Visayas.

The second time, I came back as a medical educator for the Commission on Higher Education. I was asked to evaluate and recommend your proposed Doctor of Medicine program for approval. And I said yes. Because I believed that the country doesn't need more doctors in malls. It needs doctors in barangays and geographically isolated and disadvantaged communities. Doctors who understand soil, animals, and food.

So, as I stand here today, I'm not a stranger. I helped choose your excellent university president and I helped birth your MD program set to open this AY 2026-2027. And today, I get to see what has grown into: YOU!

When I was invited by your esteemed university president to inspire you by delivering a commencement address, my first thought was: "Oh no. Not another one of those speeches highlighting determination and success."

It's because you might have already heard what the usual commencement speakers have to say. In fact, quite a number of times since you were young celebrating graduation milestones. Your parents told you. Your professors told you. Even TikTok and Instagram told you. Having heard the usual: "Work hard. Be successful. Make us proud." messages that have become routine and staple during commencement ceremonies. 

And the message usually ends up boring, the speaker forgettable. Now clap your hands if you agree with me.

I also asked ChatGPT to compose a speech for you the other night. It gave me three pages about "embracing the future with resilience." I read one paragraph and fell asleep. So, I deleted it. Because if I give you that speech, I'd be lying. And you deserve better than a speech written by a robot who has never had the chance to brave the rains to get to VSU for a 7:00 AM class. So, bear with me as I deliver my short and personal take on graduations, inspiration, pushing boundaries and embracing opportunities for success contextualized to you, VSU graduates. 

Now let us have a reality check. My dear graduates, welcome to the professional world. Welcome to the highly competitive employment world or, should I say, unemployment world. Sadly, we recognize and acknowledge a problem. There is something peculiar about the world you are about to enter.

Technology and Al is changing our world at an alarming rate. Al can write, design, and answer. Canva can present. Google can answer your exam. So, if your only skill is the right answer, you are in deep trouble. What the world actually needs right now and what VSU specifically trained you for, are people who are brave enough to ask better questions. Because the world you are entering does not need more people who just follow instructions.

While Al can make your academic life comfortable, Al cannot care. I am a medical doctor. And I'll tell you straight. Al can read an x-ray and can write a prescription. But it cannot sit at 5:00 AM with a farmer and ask "Kumusta ang ani?" Al cannot hold the hand of a mother in a rural health center. That still requires human thinking. That is still your work. You were trained at VSU to grow things. Not just crops and not just generate data. But hope. In places that feel barren.

Some of you here studied agriculture. That means you know about soil. You know that you cannot force a seed to grow faster simply by yelling at it. You know that some seasons are for planting, some are for waiting, and some are just, for failure or a harvest nightmare. Be the person in the room who says: "But what if we tried it this way?" Be unique, be irreplaceable in the workplace.

If you expect me to give you the answers on how to proceed with life after today, I am sorry to disappoint you. I am standing here not because I have all the answers. I'm standing here because someone once stood for me when I had none.

And that is what I see in you. Four years ago, you walked into VSU with big dreams and bigger doubts. You studied through storms. Literally because Baybay, Leyte knows storms to the core. You studied through silent and lazy nights, too. The nights you questioned if this was worth it.

And now you are here. Not because it was easy, but because you chose to stay. So today, I'm not going to tell you to "chase success." Don't chase success. It's loud, and it is borrowed. Therefore, I want you to chase something quieter. Something that is more consistent. Chase CURIOSITY and MEANING, instead. What problem will you suffer for? Is it hunger? Is it exhausted soil? Is it a community with no doctor?

Therefore, don't just get a job. Occupy a problem. If it is hunger? Go there. If it is animal disease? Go there. If it is a barangay with no doctor, no clean water, no market? Go there. Start a cooperative. Launch a plant or crop clinic. Start a demo farm to test new farming methods. And fail on purpose once this year. That is data. That is how we learn from failures. 

Our country doesn't have a knowledge problem. It has a courage problem. The courage to stay. The courage to serve where life is difficult. The courage to share your expertise where it's needed most, not where it's paid most.

The world is changing fast. So my request to you is simple: Don't be in such a hurry to become impressive that you forget to become GOOD. Good to the people who helped you. Good to the places and institutions that raised you. Good for the version of you that was scared during your first year.

There will be days you will feel behind. Days your batchmate gets the job, the funding, the recognition and you don't. On those days, remember this: Growth is not linear. Ask any agronomist here. Some seeds take longer. Some need fire to open. So, I have to tell you that you are not late. You are on your own season.

Now let us talk straight. Let me just remind you that your education was not free. Someone paid for it–the Filipino taxpayer, through free tuition, through scholarships, through years of government investment. Your education was subsidized. That means you don't just owe a school. You owe a country. Your training is world-class. You have been privileged to be taught by the best mentors and have been nurtured in one of the best higher education institutions in the country that is recognized globally.

VSU is not just any school. You were trained for what the current world needs: 1. Food Security; 2. Environmental Sustainability; 3. Animal Health; 4. Rural Development; 5. Research and; 6. Lifelong Learning.

The diploma you receive today is not only a degree, it is a responsibility. Because while others debate on problems related to environmental, animal, and plant health on Facebook and X or Twitter, you were in the field, in the laboratory, in the farm finding solutions to them.

Ladies and gentlemen, why does the country need nation builders NOW more than ever? And why does One Health matter? Because our farmers are aging. Because our soil is tired, and our climate is changing. Because rural clinics need doctors who are not afraid to stay in order to deliver accessible and equitable health care. And because I am a doctor, let me tell you a hard truth: Human health does not exist alone.

Human health is tied to the health of plants. If crops fail, children go hungry. If the soil is sick, our food is sick. Likewise, the health of people is tied to the health of animals. I am confident that you are aware that 75% of new diseases come from animals through zoonotic infections coming from farms and other wildlife. So when we protect animal health, we are likely to prevent the next pandemic.

The health of people is similarly tied to the health of the environment. Clean water, clean air, healthy watersheds. This is called One Health. And VSU graduates are the only ones in this hall trained to do all three, plant, animal, and environmental health. The physicians are responsible for treating the patient. And you, my dear graduates, in Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, and Forestry were trained to treat the system that keeps the patient alive. Five years from now, when VSU graduates its first batch of MDS, ONE health will truly be its flagship. And I strongly believe in that. This is the reason why I favorably endorsed its application for government authority. I have so much faith in VSU, to advocate for ONE health in healing our country, and the world!

Class of 2026, let me challenge you to be jealous. Be jealous of a Philippines where no child goes to bed hungry. Be jealous of farms that are productive, of watersheds that are alive, of communities where the doctor didn't have to leave. This is not the jealousy that tears people down. This is the jealousy that builds nations. It's the jealousy that looks at a problem and says, 'That should not be normal. And because I was trained here, at VSU, I will be the one to change it."

The world will tell you to leave, to go to the city or maybe go abroad. But I am asking you to do something braver. Stay rooted in Leyte, rooted in science, and rooted in service. Because a country cannot grow if its best people are leaving. Plants need fertile soil, animals need green pastures, and people need homes. Be that home for the Philippines. You are not just graduates. You are the seeds. So plant yourselves. Grow and feed our beloved country. Be the GOAT VSU would like you to become.

Before you leave today, I want you to do two things: First, text the person who believed in you. In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. he wrote, Biologists often talk about the ecology of an organism. The tallest tree in the forest is not the tallest because it grew from the toughest seed. It had deep and rich soil, more than enough sunlight, and no one cut it down. You are not self-made. Thank the people who gave you sunlight, the hidden advantages, and extraordinary opportunities. Don't be shy. Type the words “Thank you.”

And the second task is: promise yourself you will build something that outlasts you. 

Congratulations. Padayon. Mabuhay kayo.

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