But like every sensible and responsible young man, he constantly peered beyond the glitz and the glamour of the world he was in. He longed for more, including making the world a better place to live in, and when he discovered the ideals of volunteerism, plus correct use of technology, there was no turning back.

His sense of civic duty, of love of country and fellow men was so unprecedented that he was noticed by the world without him actually showing off in order to change his country and perhaps the world through his own idea of volunteerism and "social entrepreneurship."

I’ve always been very sensitive to civic duty. What many people don’t know is that a lot of the way I am now is because of two things: my Mom, who is very socially involved, would always bring me to this "Pangarap" shelter for the orphans and would let me just serve food. I got to be friends with them and what I saw was that what they lack was not intelligence but opportunity. Second, we grew up in Pasay so my childhood friends were sons of mechanics and carpenters. I acquired the technical skills by hanging around in machine shops and messed around with engines so the skills came actually from my childhood playmates and their fathers.

What I’m working on now is a new template for schools in developing countries called the "millennium schools project." We’re trying to invite 10,000 architects from around the world to build a more disaster-resistant and sustainable, "green technology" building that could adapt to climate change. We want to see how we can build environmentally-efficient rooms with power-efficient lighting, or a roof type that would make the rooms cooler, or a better waste-water treatment system.

I am a Techie. Technology has empowered me to be a digital leader. I can broadcast some of my works through Web logs or "blogs" and people will read about it so I get to change a lot of mindsets. Technology allows me to be in more places and multiply myself in terms of the effect and it allows me to reach out to a lot of young people who are technologically more adaptable and inspire them to take a role in social change, not to get frustrated, to look into their own unique skills set and if they don’t have money they can volunteer. If they have an idea maybe they can try it out. It’s really about raising an army of change makers in the country so technology has empowered me to reach out and come up with alternative building constructions, agriculture machines, etc. It has not only allowed me to broadcast what I am doing but also helped me reach out to people with unique ideas and research and maybe help me reformat Philippine education.

I needed a laptop because I was doing a lot of rural development work. Of all the companies that I sent a letter to, Acer was quick to reply and actually the only one that responded. I was expecting a low-end one but through Mr. Wong’s generosity, they gave me the Acer 4000. Since then, that computer has helped me build schools, do proposals and presentations, especially if there’s a VIP coming. That laptop has been with me all throughout my MIT days or all throughout my studies.

So Acer, my first laptop, made a lot of the critical work- and study-related stuff possible. It was fast, even with very, very heavy graphics so it was very invaluable to me and I’m more than happy with it. I even brought it along when I went to Base Camp in Mount Everest or when I’m writing an article. It has traveled all around the world with me so maybe, I could call it my third arm, a catalyst in my success.