American pop icon Billy Joel is wrong. Honesty is not a lonely word. And not everyone is so untrue.
This is what leaders of BCBP La Paz chapter in Iloilo province are trying to prove with their Be Honest Academy that seeks to promote honesty’s importance and create a culture of honesty among Ilonggos.
According to Bro. Lito Dela Banda, Advocacy Ministry Head of BCBP La Paz, “Honesty is never a lonely word.”
“Honesty actually makes a person happy. If you are honest to yourself and to others, you are able to see your weaknesses and areas you need to improve in. And that’s how you grow,” he says.
The Be Honest Academy’s main thrust is to teach people, particularly professional men like taxi drivers and traffic enforcers, about the importance and benefits of being honest and to ultmately create a culture of honesty among them.
As its first project, the Be Honest Academy gave a Motivational Talk to taxi drivers of JHELORD Taxi last October 30, 2021.
The head of the Advocacy Ministry Brother Joselito de la Banda conducted the said talk emphasizing the importance of honesty as drivers, in all their dealings with their passengers and their operators.
Almost 40 taxi drivers and the operator of JHELORD Taxi Corporation listened intently to the talk.
After the talk, BCBP La Paz Chapter Head Bro. Eldred Tabar and PSD Head Bro. Joseph Teruel awarded Honesty Certificates to the participants.
According to Bro. Joseph, seeing an Honesty Certificate inside the taxi cab would make the taxi-riding public feel secured knowing they are being served by a driver who has gone through a training in honesty.
“We also would like to help in promoting Iloilo’s tourism by highlighting honesty as a culture and a way of life. Ultimately, we would like to recognize Ilonggos as an honest people,” Bro. Joseph said.
Bro. Eldred, meanwhile, noted that an honest person is a person who is loved by God
Bro. Henry Vasig and Bro. Jun Juada, both members of the BCBP La Paz Advocacy Ministry, meanwhile commended the JHELORD taxi operator and his drivers for their willingness to “hear heaven’s call to be advocates of honesty and to be used by God to be instruments to show honesty to others.”
The taxi drivers, for their part, shared their own experiences when their honesty was tested. These included instances when they found bags containing cash or mobile phones accidentally left behind by passengers. The drivers chose to be honest and return these items to their owners. They expressed appreciation to BCBP La Paz for showing them that being honest pays.
BCBP La Paz has uploaded a video on Facebook containing footages from the Be Honest Academy Motivational Talk. You may view it here.
