(Speech delivered at the Diamonds In The Rough awards rites on March 3 at the Century Park Sheraton hotel in Manila).  

Today, we award three young doctors for their service to the Filipino people in the countryside. We acknowledge their sacrifice and dedication in selflessly giving themselves to meet the health needs of those who have less in life, especially in the countryside where resources are extremely scarce. We praise their sense of loyalty to the Filipino people who badly need their presence and expertise to help them cope with the innumerable health challenges that confront the poor people in the provinces every day. 

In short, we are giving the diamonds in the rough awards to these young doctors for doing exactly what every Tomas, Ricardo and Hilario of a Filipino doctor is expected to do in the first place!