Yesterday, inside the timeless walls of Intramuros, we broke bread with the future. Around the table sat our Physicians for Peace-PAGCOR Scholars, their faces bright with a relief and excitement you could almost touch. Four years. Just like that. Four years ago, they walked into the UERMMMCI School of Prosthetics and Orthotics with a dream. Now, they walk out as graduates, on the cusp of becoming Certified Prosthetists and Orthotists.

It hits you, moments like these.

You listen to their stories, one by one. You hear the hurdles they overcame, the late nights they pushed through, and the families they did this for. You see the sheer, unshakeable hope in their eyes for the future they are about to build—a future of helping others walk, hold, and live again.

And you realize, in our own small way, we were part of this.

You sit there and realize, this is what it’s all about. It’s not for us. It’s the simple, gut-level good feeling of knowing you helped give someone a foothold. The journey is all theirs; you just need to be there at the start.

This moment, this success, isn’t ours alone. It belongs to a village. To UERMMMCI and the incredible Dean Kaye Cabazor, who molded these scholars. To PAGCOR, whose belief made this four-year program possible, with a special nod to former PAGCOR Pres. Atty Fred Lim, whose support was instrumental.

Now, they face the boards. The final hurdle.

But looking at them yesterday, sharing stories and laughter, we weren’t worried. We’ve seen their fire. We’ve seen their hearts. Go out there and change lives. We’ll be cheering you on every step of the way.