I don't know much about her life except that she abandoned her comforts and road to fame in exchange of spending her life volunteering in my country. She gave scholarship to kids, who could not be sent to school by our own government. She learned the language, Tagalog, fluently, which most of us in the University refuse/avoide to speak (English, determines your stature and education). And she travelled around my country, which most Filipinos who are able to travel, choose to travel abroad. In the years she spent in my country, she lived like a Filipino, while a lot of us spend time dreaming of leaving the country and living like someone else.

There is no doubt that the people she loved and cared for will forever remember her. She deserves the honor that the government gave her. But I think, what she would like more is to see a continuing action to whatever she has started. The honor, like all volunteers would do, is to give it back to the people they serve. The medal is not a piece of gold metal or a laminated piece of paper on the wall but a sustainable development and achievement among and for the people.