EMBRACING HOPE amid adversity and cynicism, the Class of 2025 celebrated the 166th Higher Education (HE) Commencement Rites at the Blue Eagle Gym (BEG) on June 20 and 21, recognizing 2,660 graduates. Notably, this year’s iteration marked the first HE graduation at BEG since the building’s 2023 renovation.
With the program’s theme, “Mga Katiwala ng Pag-asa, Patuloy na Tumatayo at Tumataya,” commencement speaker Atty. Leila de Lima urged the graduating class to become pilgrims of hope.
Holding onto ambitions
Delivering a message of encouragement to the graduates, de Lima described hope as a radical power for justice and truth—not as a blind optimism but as an act of compassion amid indifference. She emphasized that hope’s opposite is complicity or the easy choice of staying silent even when others are wronged.
“This is the hope that challenges the status quo, […] disrupts complacency, and insists on a better tomorrow,” de Lima emphasized.
De Lima also recalled her imprisonment, sharing how she found strength in remembering the people she fought for and the causes she defended. However, she underscored that the graduates do not need to go through the same struggles as she did to prove that their ambition is meaningful.
She reminded them that any path they choose and communities they serve can impact lives and shape the nation’s future.
Reflecting on her choice to resist fear, she urged graduates to stand firm in the face of adversity and act with purpose—not for recognition, but genuine service.
“Your journey will not be linear, but every step forward, every act of defiance, every choice to care, contributes to the grand tapestry of hope that we are weaving together,” de Lima expounds.
Ultimately, she called on the graduates to defend a cause even if unpopular, to take risks when the truth is distorted, and to choose love when hope is mocked by others.
Choosing to dare
Echoing the message of hope and courage, Class of 2025 Valedictorian Robert Nelson “Tobi” Leung (BS AMDSc ‘25) emphasized the importance of purpose and grit in shaping the graduates’ ambitions. He encouraged them to seek “a life made richer by every failure […] and every disappointing defeat.”
With this message of purposeful living, Leung urged his fellow graduates to pursue ambition not just for accolades, but for a reason beyond the hollow and deafening “vice” of empty achievements. He then affirmed the Ignatian value of magis in acting against this vice, treating it as a guiding value to find purpose and to “be more” in the service of others.
Closing his speech, Leung prompted his fellow graduates to aspire boldly and dream without limits, citing Miguel de Unamuno’s reflection that only those who attempt the absurd are capable of reaching the impossible.
“I pray we live boldly to chase the absurd, to run after our impossible dreams ‘til our legs give out, and we taste blood in every breath. […] We are the lies we tell ourselves. We are who we pretend to be in the mirror. We are the nothings we make happen,” he said.
With the reminder to be persons for others, Leung invited his fellow graduates to be advocates of hope who rise from defeat and to take risks despite uncertainty.
Hope in magis
Reflecting on their Ateneo journey, several graduates shared how magis was a core value that shaped their aspirations moving forward, as it was emphasized throughout their stay in the University. For Yoncei Valerio (AB DipIR ‘25), magis influenced her leadership journey, showing that the value comes to life through and for others.
“Ateneo has built such a great community [and] it’s really formative in the [University’s] curriculum and philosophy to be rooted in community and otherness, in being man and woman for others,” Valerio added.
Resonating with Valerio’s sentiment, Jacey Uy (AB IS ‘25) described magis as a call to continue growing and serving—whether through nonprofit organizations or supporting future generations. Alphonso Baizas (BS ITE ‘25) likewise shared that his program taught him how innovation, when grounded in empathy, can help empower communities.
Mikhaela Neri (AB COM ‘25) also reflected on the theme of service, stating that magis meant going beyond oneself and choosing to give back. With their Ateneo journey coming to an end, these graduates all echo their commitment to carry these values with them beyond the Ateneo, becoming stewards of hope for others and for each other.
