Speech - Recognition Night and Testimonial Dinner
June 19, 2007

OPENING REMARKS
National President Jose Vicente B. Salazar
Recognition Night and Testimonial Dinner
June 19, 2007
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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

Today, I open this gathering with a short prayer written not by a Saint, but the best known-author remembered by many generations – William Shakespeare.

He wrote, and I echo this blurted-out prayer:

“O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!”

That Shakespeare should ask the Divine for the gift of gratitude is evidence that the art of thankfulness is one least practiced. I am not about to allow the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to succumb to that syndrome. For, we believe as the great Roman philosopher Cicero did, that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others”.

Ladies and gentlemen, please look around the hall.

As you do, you will note the number, diversity and significance of the personalities gathered here today.

The stature of the attendance list is not what we wish to focus the spotlight on. Rather, it is on the fact that the guests who are with us tonight represent the amount and quality of the help and support the IBP received over the years.

At the risk of being trite, I say to you, our friends, allies and supporters, that “the IBP will not be where it is today were it not for your generous help in terms of “time, talent and treasure”.

We wished we can reciprocate in kind. But that would not be possible. For, to do so would be to say that there is a material equivalent to the generosity you have shown us. There is none. And so we extend to you that which we can best afford: the collective gratitude of the country’s legal community.

We are grateful for your help in organizing events. In building consensus. In implementing programs and projects. In expanding alliances. In communicating our convictions and positions on issues. In charting our direction. In serving the needs of our membership. In the quest for greater and more meaningful service to our community and country,

Thank you just for being there for the IBP.

The French proverb says: “Gratitude is the heart’s memory”.

Therefore, to all those we are thanking tonight, we say, “we shall never forget”.

We are privileged that tonight’s gathering has been graced by one who deserves our special gratitude. I refer, of course, to the newly-elected governor of the province of Albay and one of the country’s most respected economist-legislator, the Honorable Joey Salceda.

Governor Salceda symbolizes the IBP’s ability to generate the support of those with whom we share our vision and aspiration for greater and more effective service to our countrymen. Here is one person whose actions speak louder than words. In showing his support, he has not only extended the kindest, most inspiring words to our leadership. Governor Salceda has ensured that beyond the inspiration, the IBP will have the necessary financial wherewithal to use in the fulfillment of its service mission.

Thank you, Governor Salceda.

And to all our friends whom we are thanking tonight, we bring the assurance that your support will continue to inspire the IBP to pursue its goals. In so doing, we are reminded of the immortal words of that famous lawyer from Massachusetts, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who said, and I quote:

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them”.

Mula sa kaibuturan ng aming puso, tanggapin po ninyo ang aming taos pusong pasasalamat.

And I close with an oft-quoted phrase, not from some foreign land but from the mouths of our own countrymen. Here is what we say when we benefit from the generosity of others. And this, too, is my parting words from our core of supporters:

“Sa inyong lahat, sa uulitin po”.