The University of the Philippines Alumni Association - Iloilo Chapter has conferred the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on former Senate President Franklin Drilon during the 2022 Alumni and Faculty Homecoming Dinner and Awards night held in Iloilo Convention Center last Aug. 21, 2022.
“I am deeply honored by the recognition of the UP Alumni Association of my humble contribution to UP Visayas and the Ilonggo community,” Drilon said in his acceptance speech.
"Iloilo will always be home to me. Your recognition is more significant because we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of UP's Presence in Iloilo," he added.
"We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to be educated in the best university with the highest-ranking educational institution in the country. I am a proud son of UP. I have seen our nation evolve. I know the greatest of its history and the promise it holds. Let us move forward but with a will to remember," he emphasized.
Conferring the award to Drilon was UP President Danilo Concepcion, UPV Chancellor Clement Camposano and UPAA-Iloilo Chapter President Evaristo John Cañonero.
The awarding ceremony coincides with the celebration of the university’s 75th anniversary.
Drilon finished his high school at then UP Iloilo College in 1961 before moving to UP Diliman to complete his undergraduate studies and later on his Bachelor in Law in 1969.
In his acceptance speech, the former four-termer senator raised anew the looming education crisis in the country.
“When we, the UP Alumni, are fortunate, others are not so fortunate. While UP gained recognition as one of the greatest universities, the rest of the country faces a looming learning crisis and a learning poverty which may soon implode if left unaddressed,” Drilon said.
“It is alarming that these kids today, aged 10 to 12, who will take over the reins of society, and, today, they do not even know how to read, where will our country be?” Drilon warned.
He cited the World Bank report that found out that 80 percent of Filipino students grade 4 to 9 are “unable to meet learning standards expected of their grades” while over 80 percent of 15-year-old Filipino students “did not reach the minimum level of proficiency in reading".
Among the 58 countries surveyed, the country ranked last in reading in Math and Science, he added.
“This is a challenge that we face as responsible citizens of this country and as responsible alumni of this greatest institution of learning,” he stressed.
In his more than three decades of outstanding service to the nation, Drilon has received numerous awards and citations.
Drilon was conferred the “Philippine Legion of Honor (Degree of Commander)” by President Corazon Aquino in 1991 “in recognition of the exemplary services he has rendered to the Republic of the Philippines as Secretary of Labor and Employment, Secretary of Justice and Executive Secretary” and “for his honesty, integrity and probity".
He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by the University of the Philippines in 2014.
In 2016, he was conferred the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan’s Emperor Akihito and the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The rare imperial honor is one of the highest distinctions the Japanese government bestows upon an individual.