For an accomplished lawyer like Antonio Oposa, the secret to success does not lie in chasing material things. Rather, it is in doing things that make you happy, keeping a simple lifestyle, and having a cause greater than yourself.
Oposa, a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards in 2009, was again honored last March 20 with a Doctor of Humanities degree from Foundation University, where he was also the speaker in its 62nd commencement.
Ever the non-conformist, Oposa gave not the usual commencement address but a series of stories — complete with entertaining and funny visuals flashed on screen that occasionally brought the house down.
Underlying all his anecdotes were life’s basic lessons: “Examine your life, find your passion, and follow your heart,” he said, “because no matter what it is -— arts, sports, environment, education, etc. — you will wake up excited for the day, and end the day in sleep with a smile on your face.”
On living simply, Oposa said, “You will seek goals that are bigger than material things, bigger than yourself.” In so doing, he said, you will find real meaning in your life.
“Use your gifts, talents, and skills to pursue a greater good. Any great movement may be born in the minds of a few, but it must be spoken by the mouths of many, and must be carried on the shoulders of all — of every man, woman, and child.”
And the ultimate secret to success, he says, is to give the credit to everyone. “There is no limit to what you can achieve when you do not care who gets the credit.”
And with these secrets, Oposa is out to conquer the enemies of nature.
“Everything that I have done in the past was only a warm up. The main events are about to begin,” he promised.
Oposa talked about his School of the SEA (Sea, Earth, Air) in his beachside property in Bantayan, Cebu which, in partnership with Foundation University and other institutions, will create a new generation of Filipinos who will understand the beauty and bounty of our country, and take care of it better than we have in our generation.
There will also be a Sailing School of the SEA to visit islands in the Visayan sea to teach the young and whoever wants to listen, he said.
The latest project to excite Oposa is his Road Revolution. He wants to reverse the concept of road use, from having a bias for cars to a bias for people.
Only three percent of the people own cars yet, they hog 99 percent of the road. “This should be changed,” Oposa said, outlining his formula of dividing the road into four–30 percent for four-wheeled vehicles, 30 percent for pedestrians, 30 percent for bicycles, and 10 percent for vegetable gardens.
This, he said, will help in fighting the effects of climate change.
“On June 12, we will begin the revolution in Cebu, where children will submit a petition using Sec. 120-127 of the Local Government Code to close down roads of Cebu to motor vehicles,” he said.
June 12, Independence Day, is also the day they will declare Filipino independence from fossil fuels, Oposa said.