BROADCAST journalist Atom Araullo addressed the University of the Philippines Baguio class of 2026 at its 24th commencement exercises on June 30.
In his talk, Araullo — who finished Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics in 2005 at UP Diliman — explained what it means to be “the right kind of difficult.”
The Manila Times is publishing a condensed version.
First: Be difficult to fool.
UP teaches us to question everything. Authority. Tradition. Power. The point of critical thinking is not to become the most annoying person in the room. The point is to become harder to manipulate.
That matters because we live in a time when truth has begun to feel optional. If something gets enough likes, it starts to feel true. If it goes viral, it becomes validated. If it is repeated often enough, it begins to sound like history.
And the powerful have learned this — in government, in business, in propaganda. They have learned to use noise to bury truth. This is where the discipline of journalism becomes useful to everyone.
But journalism is not only a profession. It should also be a public habit. It is the habit of asking: Is this true? Who said it? Who benefits? Who is missing from the story? And what happens if we look away?
Second: Be difficult to buy.
I am not saying don’t make money. Please make money. A reasonable amount is fine. Your parents are tired. Some of them have been tired since your second year. Wanting a good life is not a betrayal of the country. Wanting comfort, stability, even success, is not wrong.
The problem is not ambition. The problem is ambition without memory. Ambition that forgets who helped you get here. Ambition that forgets who is left behind. Ambition that becomes so polished it can no longer recognize suffering.
So, while you are still young, while the world has not yet made all your choices feel inevitable, decide what is not for sale. Your name. Your integrity. Your compassion. The Filipino people.
You don’t have to kill your dreams in the name of service. Just make sure your dreams don’t require you to kill your conscience.
Third: Be difficult to discourage.
Be at peace with your failures, but do not be passive about them. Ask what went wrong, then ask what you can do better next time.
Be difficult to discourage, but easy to correct. That combination will save you.
And while you’re learning from failure, please respect your own timeline. Intelligence, skill, and hard work cannot fully compensate for a world where some people have to work twice or three times as hard just to reach another person’s starting line.
Fourth: Be difficult to turn indifferent.
Believe me, the world will try. Through ambition. Through disappointment. Through comfort. Through fear. Through success. Little by little, the world will try to make you numb.
You will see injustice repeated so often it begins to look normal. At some point, you may be tempted to say: Pagod na ako. Ayoko na. Wala rin namang nagbabago.
Dito ko gustong banggitin ang isang personal hero ko. Isang anak ng Cordillera: si Macli-ing Dulag.
Macli-ing was a respected leader of the Butbut people of Bugnay, Kalinga. In the 1970s, he opposed the Chico River Dam Project of the Marcos dictatorship. The project threatened Indigenous communities, rice fields, homes, forests, and burial grounds.
On paper, it was development. But for the communities who would be displaced, what was at stake was not just land. It was where they lived, where they worked, where they buried their dead, and where their children would inherit a future.
They were pressured to move. Threatened and militarized. Offered bribes. Told that sacrifice was necessary for progress. But Macli-ing and other Cordillera leaders stood their ground.
On April 24, 1980, he was murdered by government forces in his own home.
There are people whose lives are so brave that we must be careful not to reduce them into advice. Macli-ing Dulag is one of them. His life is not a template we casually hand to new graduates and say, “O, gayahin ninyo.” That would be unfair. And frankly, quite a lot to ask.
But we should still admire, honor, and learn from their courage and sacrifice. They are not supernatural beings sent down to earth to save us. They are people who have looked at the world and saw more meaning in it than serving themselves.
Most of us may never be asked to pay the ultimate price. But his life reminds us that there are moments when the question is no longer, “What do I want?” The question becomes: “What and who must I defend?”
Protect your capacity to care. Let it shape your ambition, not erase it.