Jovito Salonga

In the words of Charles de Gaulle: "Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first." Throughout our history, there are many all over the world who dedicated themselves to their country and its in habitants. In the Philippines, patriotism is represented by Jovito Salonga. Salonga was born on June 22, 1920. He was the youngest of five brothers and lived with his mother, a local market vendor, and father, a Presbyterian pastor. Throughout his life, Salonga's brothers and he were considered escapes out of poverty, and all of them were pushed hard in their studies. As Salonga got older, he took an interest in politics and eventually considered becoming a politician. Unfortunately, his dreams were postponed, as he joined to fight during World War II and was eventually captured. After a year of imprisonment, he returned to the Philippines and decided to take the Philippine Bar Exam. Amazingly, he passed with a record breaking 95.3% and went on a scholarship to Harvard to earn his master's degree, and later on Yale to finish his doctorate degree in law. Returning from studies, Salonga went back to the Philippines and decided to run for senator and later on succeeded. Throughout his political career, he sustained a spot for senator twice, provided ample support and improvement to the Philippines via charity and laws, and was known as "The Nation's Fiscalizer." Jovito Salonga had always made the effort to help the country beyond his role as a senator. He strived countless times wherever and whenever to improve the Philippines in any way he could, showing his strong devotion to his country and its people. Overall, Jovito Salonga, a highly educated and patriotic Filipino, is among the recognized heroes in our lives, as he is always willing to help others, highly determined at the task at hand, and strongly dedicated to his country.

Jovito Salonga, unlike many politicians who stood by, was one to tirelessly take action in helping Filipinos as much as he could. A strong example of his generosity can be seen with the "Salonga Scholars" in the Rizal Scholarship Program: "During Jovy's term as Congressman, he donated all his congressional allowances to the Rizal Scholarship Program. Hundreds of poor but talented students from his district whom they called "Salonga Scholars" benefited from this program" ("Sen. Jovito R. Salonga"). By donating all of his allowance, Salonga was helping many students with financial issues, and made their need for an education his obligation. In doing this, Salonga showed how much consideration he had for the future generations of the Philippines.With helping them afford an education, Salonga shows he wanted the students to strive to the best of their abilities, knowing that they will improve the country with their stronger knowledge. Another example of his willingness to help others can be seen in his acts after his political terms. By his writing and speeches, he passed on his stories as well as inspired others to also help improve the Philippines. In fact, some of his speeches, such as "The Educated Man," talk solely to convince people about the importance of education and making sure it is a positive part of your life.: "...we would all be committing a tragic mistake if we were to look back only to the glories of the past and forget the new challenges of our time, if we were to count in detail its achievements and overlook the massive tasks that would require of you more than just planning and effort, but the vision and the dedication of a lifetime"(Salonga).By working hard after his retirement, it revealed how much of a priority the youth are in Salonga's lifestyle and how their growth is something he wishes to guide. With having the youth as a main focus in his life, it goes to show how much Salonga looks to helping the future generations of Filipinos grow and become better than the last. In his excerpt, Salonga explains we have to continue to look towards the future and that although the achievements of the past can provide a drive, it is the ambitions of our future generations that will make the difference. With Salonga taking action towards the youth, he shows focus towards the future of the Philippines and hopes that he provided assistance for them along the way.

Throughout Salonga's career, he had encountered countless physical trials that impaired his progress. While others would stop everything in order to recover in their condition, Salonga had kept on pushing through. One of his earliest impediments had occurred when an ambush struck during his campaigns for his second election as senator: 

Whatever Jovito Salonga did, it was in order to help improve the Philippines and attempt to create a stronger government. By creating a stronger government, Salonga had done numerous acts: from organizing our government, to passing ample amounts of necessary laws: "The post-EDSA Senate, under the leadership of Sen. Salonga, passed numerous laws of national importance which started the restoration of our country's democratic processes, economic recovery and social transformation"("Sen. Jovito R. Salonga"). By passing so many laws, Salonga wanted to make a mark on his segment of Filipino history, and that mark was progress. With adding all these laws for restoration and improvement, Salonga shows that he sees how corrupt Filipino society is and that he has intentions of fixing it as much as he can. Although he couldn't guarantee the passed laws' success, he wanted to show that the Philippines is working to improve in becoming a better country than it is. With also having improvements to Filipino society, Salonga had also his acts of charity as well: "Salonga also turned his words into actions, by founding four organizations to promote political awareness and participation, protect human rights, promote heroes and martyrs, and promote social and moral awareness" (Kile). By founding these organizations, Salonga now can enforce his ideals of improving the Philippines through them. Also, by forming them, Salonga reflects what his personal goals are as a senator. With that in mind, all of his groups focus on selfless topics that all lead to the idea of helping the future generation. Rather than focusing on any group, by promoting things such as heroes and awareness, Salonga seems to direct his organizations to the youth, further describing his dedication to his country and to the youth spread across it. In the end, Jovito Salonga had always worked for the Philippines' sake. In fact, Jovito Salonga also had his fair share of personal speeches, donations, and charity work that he did in order to make the country brighter. Little did he help himself to personal pleasures, but rather tried to please others. He is a man of perseverance, determination, and patriotism. 

Works Cited

"Charles DeGaulle, Man of the Year." LIFE 5 Jan. 1959: n. pag. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Kile, J. "Jovito Salonga." Moral Heroes RSS. Moral Heroes, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .

Salonga, Jovito R. "The Educated Man." The Jovito R. Salonga Journal. The Jovito R. Salonga Journal, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. 

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"Salonga Profile | Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development." Dr Jovito R Salonga Center for Law and Development Salonga Profile Comments. Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. 

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"Sen. Jovito R. Salonga." Bantayog Ng Mga Bayani. A Bantayog Ng Mga Bayani (A Monument of Heroes), n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. .