Kamakailan lamang ay lumikha ng ingay ang pagkakaimbita kay blogger/journalist Sass Sasot bilang guest speaker sa isang graduation ceremony ng mga Senior High School students ng Southern Philippines Institute of Science and Technology sa Imus, Cavite noong Hunyo 3, 2022.

Pinatayan ng ilaw at pinatayan ng sound system si Sasot sa kalagitnaan ng kaniyang talumpati. Hindi naman nagpapigil ang journalist at nagtuloy-tuloy lamang sa pagbigkas ng kaniyang talumpati sa kaniyang cellphone. Binuksan naman ng mga mag-aaral ang flashlight ng kanilang cellphones upang tanglawan ang kanilang guest speaker.

Basahin: https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/sass-sasot-pinatayan-ng-ilaw-sound-system-habang-nagtatalumpati-sa-isang-graduation-ceremony/">https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/sass-sasot-pinatayan-ng-ilaw-sound-system-habang-nagtatalumpati-sa-isang-graduation-ceremony/

Subalit maya-maya, isang staff ng venue ang umakyat sa entablado upang pababain si Sasot. Dito na nahinto at hindi natuloy ang masaya sanang face-to-face graduation ceremony matapos ang lockdowns dahil sa pandemya.

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Naglabas ng kaniyang sama ng loob si Sasot sa kaniyang social media platform subalit sa kabila nito, wala umanong balak magsampa ng kaso ang blogger/journalist. Hinikayat pa niya ang pamunuan ng paaralang nag-imbita sa kaniya na i-donate na lamang sa Church of God-Dasmariñas ang honorarium o bayad sa kaniyang speakership.

Naglabas na rin ng opisyal na pahayag ang pamunuan ng paaralan, sa pamamagitan ng President at CEO nitong si Dr. Erlinda Manzanero.

Basahin: https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/presidente-ng-paaralang-nag-imbita-kay-sass-sasot-para-sa-graduation-ceremony-may-opisyal-na-pahayag/">https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/presidente-ng-paaralang-nag-imbita-kay-sass-sasot-para-sa-graduation-ceremony-may-opisyal-na-pahayag/

Humingi na rin sila ng paumanhin kay Sasot, sa isa pang hiwalay na opisyal na pahayag.

Basahin: https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/pamunuan-ng-paaralan-humingi-ng-dispensa-kay-sass-sasot-dahil-sa-graduation-ceremony-incident/">https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/pamunuan-ng-paaralan-humingi-ng-dispensa-kay-sass-sasot-dahil-sa-graduation-ceremony-incident/

Agad naman itong tinanggap ni Sasot at nagpasalamat sa pamunuan ng paaralan.

Basahin: https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/cancelled-na-si-sass-sasot-idinetalye-mga-nangyari-sa-grad-ceremony-incident-may-kakasuhan-ba/">https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/cancelled-na-si-sass-sasot-idinetalye-mga-nangyari-sa-grad-ceremony-incident-may-kakasuhan-ba/

Naglabas na rin ng opisyal na pahayag ang pamunuan ng Church of God-Dasmariñas sa pamamagitan ni Senior Pastor Bishop Anthony V. Velasco, DD. h.c., noong Hunyo 4.

Basahin: https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/cog-dasma-sumagot-na-sa-pagpapalayas-kay-sass-we-cannot-allow-our-pulpit-to-be-desecrated/">https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/04/cog-dasma-sumagot-na-sa-pagpapalayas-kay-sass-we-cannot-allow-our-pulpit-to-be-desecrated/

Kinondena naman ni Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla ang naganap na insidente.

Basahin: https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/05/what-a-shame-cavite-gov-remulla-nag-react-sa-ginawa-ng-cog-dasma-kay-sass-sasot/">https://balita.net.ph/2022/06/05/what-a-shame-cavite-gov-remulla-nag-react-sa-ginawa-ng-cog-dasma-kay-sass-sasot/

Samantala, narito ang nilalaman ng buong talumpati ni Sasot para sa mga mag-aaral ng SPIST, na ibinahagi niya sa kaniyang Facebook post.

"My supposed-to-be commencement speech Southern Philippines Institute of Science & Technology_Official

K to 12 Graduates : Pursuing Dreams and Fostering Resilience in the Face of Adversity," ani Sasot.

"Courage. Dear graduates, that’s the beginning and end of everything in your life. Courage. And it’s just appropriate that I begin my speech today with that word because of two important reasons: One, there can never be resilience in the face of adversity without courage; and two, I am here today because of courage."

"Looking back, the end of every decade of my existence has been marked by great changes that carried my life into a new chapter. I've always believed that things happen out of necessity, stirred by the invisible hands of Fate."

"At 19, I started to become a transgender activist. At 29, I uprooted myself from the Philippines and moved to the Netherlands, and began my studies in International Relations & Law at Leiden University College. And as I turned 39 last year, I once again faced a new beginning."

"What's common with each of these turning points is that they were preceded and aided by experiences of great love and brush with death - figurative or metaphorical death."

"At 18, I attempted to commit suicide by hanging. As my body was feeling numb and cold, my ears popping, making me hear a very high-pitch sound akin to the sound of a flat lifeline, a force radiating from within made me struggle out of it. After I successfully got myself out of the bedsheet laced with wires, I heard a voice emanating from within me: “Use your life to make a difference in someone’s childhood."

"I don’t know where that voice came from — maybe it’s from God, from my ancestors, from my higher self, from whatever or whomever. That voice perhaps is what Martha Graham once called “a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

"That voice I heard kept me marching. It became my motivation to keep on striving. And whenever I feel like giving up, I am reminded of that moment."

"When my mother asked me to choose at the age of 18 between staying and leaving her nest, I chose the romantic choice over the practical one. Staying meant everything would be provided to me but I had to live as a guy. Leaving meant living as a girl but that meant I would be on my own. And that choice was an easy one to make because it was what my heart wanted."

"So I left, with nothing but about 1000 pesos, a few of my clothes, and a Walkman. As I took a cab to go to a public park in Manila, I kept playing Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car.' I slept in the park for a few months under the stars, ate left over foods at the food court of SM Manila, and read books…"

"But it was worth it: it opened doors for me. It led me to co-founding, at the age of 20, the first transgender support and advocacy group in the Philippines, which continues to give platform and opportunities to a lot of girls like me. And ultimately, the path led me to speak at the United Nations in 2009, making me the first transgender woman in the world to address the UN General Assembly."

"Two months before my 28th bday, I thought I was going to die again. This time, not because of suicide. At the time, I was working as one of the Communication Officers of ILGA in Asia. During the Asian regional conference of ILGA in Surabaya, Indonesia, the conference was halted by a notorious Indonesian fundamentalist group, which threatened to storm the conference armed. It was a very horrifying moment."

"The move to the Netherlands led me to a new chapter in my life. I finished my university degree magna cum laude. I became the first Filipino and woman of transgender experience to receive the ECHO Award, an annual award given to excellent and promising students in the Netherlands. I became the first Filipino to receive the Global Citizenship Award from Leiden University College."

"I finished my master's, and it's also during this time that life blessed me with a platform that could reach millions of people - one of the biggest political blogs in the Philippines. But this time, I'm no longer speaking about trans issues but about foreign policy and international relations. I became a columnist for a newspaper."

"At 38, the pandemic happened. I was also going through a very dark time in my life. I was still grieving the deaths of a lot of important people in my life -- a very dear childhood friend who committed suicide, one of my best friends, and my sister. My relationship with my mother also gravely deteriorated before the pandemic."

"I experienced a very traumatic incident at work. I felt burnt out, I thought of turning my back away from everything during the summer. Then the Universe opened my heart once again and made me fall in love deeply with someone in the summer of 2020. The fire of this encounter restored my hope, faith, and love, which then led me to one of the most important moments of my life: reconciliation with my mother."

"I thought this was already a dead-end wall. But love found a way, just like what it has always done in my life. Just then, it was loving someone so deeply that gave me the courage now…"

"My 39th birthday last year is definitely the most beautiful birthday I ever had in my life because this is the first birthday that my mother called me "Sass." We're like girl pals now."

"Just like at 19, at 29, my 39th is another turning point, and just like then, love and death played a huge role in turning the page. After all, death is the only certainty we have in this life, and love makes the uncertainty of the rest of our life meaningful.

The great romantic Lord Byron once said that "there are four questions of value in life… What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living "for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.”

"Love and courage are intimately intertwined. We often associate the word romantic with relationships. But it's a word that applies beyond that one aspect of life. To be romantic is to live by the heart. It's the pursuit of Love, of following one's bliss. It's living life - every aspect of it - as an adventure. A life lived with courage. Courage comes from the Latin word "cor," which means heart. Thus, to be courageous entails following one's heart."

"In January 2022, news broke out that a nine-year study conducted by The Dream Project PH revealed that 8 out of 10 youth do not have a dream."

"What I’m going to tell you now, might be counterintuitive. Some may consider it insane. Or worse the music of a mad Pied Piper leading you astray. But I’m going to tell it anyway: Nothing is wrong with you."

"Telling you in any way to have a dream is only bowing to the demands of others. It’s like telling a child to repeat the same dance she did in the bliss of her solitude to amuse a crowd longing for entertainment. The stuff dreams are made of hate that kind of pressure. So instead of bursting out of you like sunshine through clouds, the creature called dream retreats to the deepest cave of your being, mumbling “No” to any invitation to come out."

"That’s why you don’t need the encouragement of others to have a dream. You have a dream. Thus, your mission is not to find a dream but to turn yourself into a space where that dream can freely play."

"Instead of pressuring yourself to have a dream, dance, read, watch movies, listen to waves lapping by the shore, smell the flowers, and walk barefoot on grass. Take shower in the rain — the first rain of May, they say, is a blessing. Laugh, fall in love, and when your heart breaks, just be a friend to it. Surrender to life. Be alive — so unapologetically alive that the world would have no choice but to hum with you as you hum the melody kept replaying in your head. That melody is the purring of the creature called dream as it inches its way out of the cave of your being."

"The dream within you is as unique as your fingerprint. That’s why no one can really give you a map on how to give shape to it. “There is no path,” Spanish poet Antonio Machado once said, “the path is made by walking.” Only you can walk that path. No school, book, celebrities, not even your parents can show you the way. You will figure out the way by walking. And it’s your responsibility, the divine duty to keep on walking, stopping every now and then in the campfires you would encounter along the way to the Beyond."

"Around those campfires would be your fellow travelers. When they tell stories of their adventures. Listen. Those stories would replenish your soul, which would get wearied as you encounter obstacles along the way."

"There will be moments when your internal saboteur will get the best out of you. The internal saboteur is the small but persistent voice within you that tells you that you will never be good enough, encouraging you to quit. That internal saboteur will always be with you, like a shadow. You can’t really eliminate it. But you can twist it."

"Twisting is a concept forwarded by Austrian political scientist Wolfgang Dietrich in Beyond the Gates of Eden: Trans-rational Peaces. He got this concept from Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo’s interpretation of German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s concept of Verwindung."

"Vattimo interpret Verwindung as “overcoming without going beyond, and it “contains no notion of dialectical sublimation… nor of a ‘leaving behind’ which characterizes the connection we have with a past [that] no longer has anything to say to us.” Twisting then entails forging a dialogical rather than a dialectical relationship."

"Therefore, twisting your internal saboteur is having a dialogical relationship with it. It’s a creative rather than a destructive relationship. Instead of seeking to destroy your internal saboteur, repurpose it. It’s really just self-doubt gone wild. Tame it by turning self-doubt’s voice as a mere reminder that you can still grow, change, expand."

The path ahead of you might be so overwhelming that it paralyzes you. That’s why you must approach it like a game you play. "Take your time to learn the rules, then skilfully break them so you could have the breakthrough that the dream that lives inside you needs in order for it to forget the fetters of your self-doubt."

"As you receive your diploma today, please remind yourselves that you are not just receiving a piece of paper. That piece of paper is a milestone in your journey as a human being. It’s a piece of paper that has been forged by the hard work of your parents, the patience of your teachers, and by your own persistence in this endless journey of being and becoming. Remember: you have just survived a pandemic — to use a popular meme, “papunta pa lang kayo sa exciting part."

"Live your own story. And your story will have its unique challenges. Embrace those challenges. Whatever suffering you are going through now, remember that they are just another stop in your way towards your own greatness. One day, you would learn to love whatever hardships you are going through now. Because without them, your future self would not have learned the true value and meaning of resilience and love."

Let me end this speech with the five lessons I had learned in my 40 years of existence…

"1. HAVE A PACT WITH DEATH

A pact with death is about imagining yourself on your deathbed and reciting all the things you’re grateful for before your last breath. Those are things that you would pursue with so much passion that death would be ashamed to take your life.

The awareness of our own mortality spurs us to reflect on how we want to spend our remaining time. Embracing our finiteness helps us live our lives with meaning and leave a legacy that can inspire other people to live their lives with purpose.

Check the average life expectancy of your gender group in our country, and you’ll see how short life is. The awareness of how much time we have left in our lives lets us focus on using our time wisely, spending it on those that are important to our soul’s growth — love, purpose, and meaning. As Psalm 90:12 says, "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

"2. RELATIONSHIP ISN’T ABOUT PERFECTION, BUT GROWTH

A relationship must not be our “escape” where we get temporary satisfaction. A relationship is a source of aliveness, courage, inspiration, and challenge. A relationship with no sense of adventure and playfulness is destined to make you die inside. A relationship that doesn’t give you the courage to triumph over your own demons will only make you a weaker version of yourself. A relationship that doesn’t inspire and challenge us to be a better version of ourselves will dim the fire of our soul.

A relationship is the workshop of the soul and not its graveyard. It must be fertile soil for our souls to break open and grow to their highest potentials in human form. As Rumi would put it, let the power of love come into you, so you can become "fierce like a lion, then tender like the evening star.”

"3. IT’S ALL ABOUT VALUE

No matter what you do, always seek to create value for others. Money is simply our contemporary way of exchange, as payment for goods and services. True wealth isn’t measured in the amount of money you have but in the value you created.

The poverty of the pocket is a temporary phase that you can triumph over. But the poverty of the soul is the worst kind. As Buddhists would put it: “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”

You can only win over the poverty of the soul if you create value for others — your family, your love ones, your people. You can fake money, but you cannot fake value."

"4. LEARNING IS THE ANTIDOTE TO BEING STUCK

When we stop learning, we get stuck. It doesn’t matter where we are stuck. If we don’t learn from our past shortcomings, we are bound to repeat them over and over again. Learning always entails leaving something behind — our old ways of doing things, our attachment to whatever, our immaturity. Learning is about going out of our comfort zones and embracing challenges. Learning isn’t about being somebody else, it’s simply being a better version of ourselves."

"5. REFLECT, REFLECT, REFLECT

Socrates aptly said it: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

"So live your lives as a monument to your souls! Always say a prayer of gratitude. Be in love with life. Today is just another chapter of your love story with Life. And what will keep you leafing through the next chapters of your life is COURAGE!"

"Maraming salamat po!"