By Tracy Cabrera
MANILA — Keeping in mind that her audience would one day become lawyers and public servants, Department of Justice (DoJ) Undersecretary Margarita ‘Marge’ Gutierrez challenged the De La Salle University (DLSU) graduating students to reject broken systems, even if they had been accepted as normal, and to remember that public office is a responsibility entrusted by the people.
Gutierrez issued the challenge in her inspirational message at the 2026 Sine Qua Non seminar of the De La Salle University Student Government (DLSU-USG), held at the school’s Brother Andrew Gonzalez Multipurpose Hall, Taft Avenue.
She reminded the students of the adverse impact of corruption, pointing out that “failures in governance have direct consequences on the lives of ordinary Filipinos.”
To underscore her point, she posed a question familiar to many of them in the area: “How many of you have ever been late to class, missed an exam, or gotten stranded because Taft Avenue flooded after a heavy downpour?”
She noted that “for many Filipinos, flooding has become so familiar that (many) barely question it anymore.”
“When it rains, there’s flooding. When there’s a storm, there are those who get stranded. So it’s like it has become normal,” she lamented.
Gutierrez underscored that the persistence of flooding has intensified calls for accountability over the use of public funds.
“Because every peso lost to corruption is a classroom not built. Every delayed project is a livelihood interrupted. Every abuse of authority is a betrayal of someone who trusted government to do its job,” she spelled out.
She urged students to internalize that public office is “not a reward,” an entitlement, a business venture, a family inheritance, or a “license to enrich oneself.”
“It is a responsibility entrusted by the people,” she emphasized. “The Constitution uses the word trust for a reason. Because trust is earned. And once lost, it is incredibly difficult to restore.”
In closing, the justice undersecretary issued another challenge, urging students to reject systems that have become accepted simply because they are familiar.
“The next chapter of our institutions is in your hands. May you be the generation that will accept a broken system as normal. May you be the generation that will prove that public service is not about power but about accountability.
“Public office is not about power. It is about trust. And trust, once given by the people, must be earned every single day,” she concluded.
ia/xf
