Ayala Corporation Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (JAZA) addressed the 414 graduates of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) during its Thirtieth Commencement Exercises on August 16 at the Solaire Grand Ballroom in Parañaque City. JAZA urged the graduates to face the complexities of the modern world with courage, clarity, and deep personal conviction. As the world grows faster and more fragmented, he said, what will set future leaders apart is not ease or efficiency—but purpose-driven choices guided by enduring values. Read his full speech below:
Choose the Difficult
Good evening.
I am honored to address the University of Asia and the Pacific Class of 2025. You graduate from an institution known for quiet and consistent formation, shaping citizens and leaders committed to the common good. Being invited here affirms the values we hold in common: the pursuit of excellence, the importance of community, and the search for wisdom.
At Ayala, we have long benefited from this kind of formation. Many of our leaders trace their roots here. One of them is Eric Francia, CEO of ACEN, who now leads our transition to renewable energy.
Let me give back to this institution by offering a few reflections, as you enter that often mythified, sometimes feared space we call the “real world.”
Your class emerges in a time of transition. While your predecessors were shaped by the crisis of the pandemic—by lockdowns, isolation, and sudden shifts in learning, you were formed between a fractured world and one anxiously reemerging. Your buzzword was “hybrid”, attending some classes in-person, and some online. Communities were cautiously rebuilding. People still wore masks and kept their distance. If the pandemic was marked by fear and anxiety, your time was shaped by caution—and a different kind of uncertainty.
These difficult circumstances forced you to adapt; to recover from digital fatigue while rebuilding connection. There was a strong desire to overcome a disruption so immense, we had to search for a new way of existing: a “new normal.”
Just as you were establishing a new rhythm, the world began to reemerge in haste, impatiently. Geopolitical tensions rose. Machines began to think faster—but not always better. The climate crisis has escalated. Public discourse has grown combative. People no longer spoke to understand, but to win. Disinformation accelerated the fragmentation of communities. Content and facts are more accessible than ever. Truth became harder to discern.
This “real world” we are now in is fast, but it lacks wisdom. It is loud but no one is listening. It is hyperconnected, but deeply fragmented. It is uncertain, but it awaits those who choose to act with courage.
Story, Purpose, Values
To confront a world like this, we must begin by making sense of it—to find coherence in the fragmentation and uncertainty. And humans have always turned to one of the oldest tools we have: story.
Story allows us to impose structure on chaos. It helps us understand-who we are, where we come from, and where we are headed. And now, this part of the story is yours to write, Seeing your life as a story makes things less daunting. The countless stories we encounter—in literature, in history, even in cinema—remind us that we are capable of overcoming as long as we have a sense of where our story is headed.
This is where purpose becomes essential.
Story gives structure. But purpose gives direction. Story helps us understand the past and the present. Purpose points us towards the future.
In less than a decade, Ayala will celebrate its 200th year. Our story began at the end of the Galleon trade, on the eve of the monopoly’s collapse. Two men—Domingo Roxas and Antonio de Ayala built a business house that would last nearly two centuries. They started in agriculture and built a distillery. As the country found its independence and moved into the modem era, Ayala sought to meet its growing needs. It expanded into manufacturing, warehousing, pharmaceuticals, public transport, insurance, banking, real estate.
After the second world war, when Manila lay in ruins, Ayala went on to rebuild. We reimagined the marshlands of Makati into a new center of commerce, community, and renewal.
Our history is not one of perfect decisions. But it is a story of enduring purpose, of listening, of adapting, and acting with intention. We entered new industries not out of convenience and mere opportunity. We built out of conviction. Each time, our actions were guided by our purpose—to build businesses that enable people to thrive.
This purpose has helped us navigate moments of uncertainty. It is what drove us to pioneer when the old world was fading. It is what guided us to grow and innovate when a new world emerged.
It is what drives us now—whether we are building cities, financing dreams, advancing clean energy, or transforming lives through technology. We have always asked ourselves: How can we help people live better? How can we create the conditions for them to grow, prosper, and thrive?
You now stand at a critical juncture in your story. You face a similar question: what story will you write?
You don’t need to have all the answers now. But you must begin asking yourselves the right questions:
What do I stand for?
Who or what do I hold dear?
Who do I want to become?
What am I building, not just for myself, but for others?
Because purpose is not some slogan you hang on your wall. It must be lived. It is the end toward which you write your story.
You will be faced with tough choices. You will be tested by decisions. And like every protagonist moving in a story, you will struggle through problems, crises, and conflicts. How then, do you stay true to your path?
You hold on to your values.
If purpose tells you where to go, your values tell you how to walk the path. They guide decisions especially when the answers aren’t easy.
At Ayala, we tried to live by a set of values. They don’t make decisions easier, but they remind us of what really matters when the choices are hard:
Do things right, even when nobody is watching, when the alternative is faster, cheaper, and easier.
Imagine it better, even when everyone settles for “good enough”.
Inspire excellence, even without recognition, even when the impact takes time. Create value together, even when it’s simpler to do it alone.
These are not slogans. They are disciplines. They are how we measure our decisions—helping us stay true to our purpose of enabling people to thrive.
The University of Asia and the Pacific has shaped you into the leaders you are today. Behind that formation are your parents, your mentors, your classmates—those who challenged you, and those who stood by you. All of them helped forge your convictions. Your values.
You only have to pause, look inward, and let those quiet beliefs strengthen your resolve—as you continue to write your story, one choice at a time.
Choosing the Difficult
The greatest stories—the ones that endure are those that are shaped by difficult choices. The harder the choice, the greater the narrative.
We think of Hamlet, torn between paralysis and action.
We think of Jean Valj ean, risking his freedom to save a man.
We think of Frodo, deciding to carry the ring even if it might destroy him. We think of Dante, choosing to walk through the Inferno to find redemption. We think of Christ, choosing his Father’s will at Gethsemane
These protagonists were defined by their choices. Their choices were guided by purpose and steadied by conviction, by their values.
Now, Class of 2025, you are entering what we might call the rising action of your own story. Where you are no longer just formed—but tested.
When the moment comes—when you are faced with the difficult, the costly, the unpopular choice—what will you choose?
You will be tempted to let machines do the thinking for you. To stay silent as disinformation spreads.
To assert your voice, even when reason is absent.
To chase recognition over substance.
To seek what is comfortable and convenient.
To choose what is easy, fast, and safe.
But each easy path comes at a cost. And every difficult choice can form you.
So I urge you: choose the difficult.
Choose to stay wise—let Al assist but never replace your thinking
Choose to speak the truth, even when it goes against what is popular.
Choose to truly listen, when everyone is just arguing.
Choose impact over recognition. Stewardship over shortcuts. Substance over speed.
Choose the difficult.
Because the real world demands courage, not convenience.
Choose the difficult—because character is formed through friction, through struggle, through fire.
But how do you choose the difficult? Let me offer three simple ways.
First, serve something greater than yourself. Your story is always intertwined with the stories of others.
Second, have faith. Let your values guide you, even when they set you apart.
Third, take courage. Act even when faced by fear. Endure, persevere. This is what makes a worth story.
You can choose the difficult. Your presence here proves it.
Trust in your integral formation. Believe in your liberal education. Rely on your ability to seek truth through faith and reason. Heed your conscience. Trust that you were prepared for more than success—you were formed for stewardship.
Again, congratulations, Class of 2025.
Write your story one choice at a time. Write it with courage, with clarity, with compassion. And when your story faces the unknown, take courage, and choose the difficult.