Michael Templo wants to pay it back Nikki Luna INQ7.net
August 29, 2006
In today's global village, where cultures merge in one big melting pot, national boundaries no longer limit opportunities in the pursuit of a comfortable life in an egalitarian society. But realizing the so-called American Dream does not merely mean finding upward economic mobility in a country with many immigrants aiming for the same piece of the pie – not in the escapism its detractors have called it, but in the need to help loved ones back home.
The migration of Michael Templo, now 30 and a New York attorney, began with such a dream - an intense sense of civic and moral duty instilled early in this son of Retired General Mitch Templo and former actress Mildred Ortega-Templo.
As a young 4th grade student, young Mike surprised his teacher by bringing a Kahlil Gibran poem to school as part of a homework exercise, a stark contrast to the Mother Goose material his classmates brought --an early sign of his interest in the deeper sense of things.
A father maintaining strict "military-like" discipline and a mother with an unwavering sense of moral values built his foundations, but as the youngest child, Mike also faced the reality of “having no rights” and receiving only hand-me-downs from his elder siblings. It became apparent early on that if he wanted something new for himself, he had to earn it himself.
His father’s career assignments also saw Mike moving from school to school –Lourdes School in Mandaluyong for elementary; Mira Mesa High in San Diego, California for junior high school; completion of high school at Brent International School. Making new sets of friends each time, he was learning to adjust and adapt to whatever environment was thrust his way. It was the same thing that prepared him for what was to come.
He loved to play both basketball and music, joining different bands in high school in the US and the Philippines. He even considered a career in music but his focus shifted when he began a course of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, preparatory to law school, at the University of the Philippines. Immersed in an environment brimming with nationalist pride, his eyes were opened to the reality of his country that soon turned to love.
Back in grade school, Mike Templo wrote in a yearbook that his ambition in life was to become a lawyer. At the end of his senior year, that early dream had become a decision to study law abroad. It wasn’t easy. Foremost of his hurdles was financial – his parents thought it more practical for him to study law in Manila and hesitated to approve his decision
But having made up his mind, Mike went for it with the tenacity learned in childhood. The reality of application fees and sky high tuition were a clear deterrence in his search for a US law school, but he found his way. In a few months, he was fling off to Long Island, NY to begin his legal education at 22, leaving behind a comfortable life with a car, a girlfriend and a family house in Manila.
He worked at odd jobs as waiter and bartender, experiencing abusive employers and testy customers. He worked hard day and night to support his studies. In limited time, he effectively managed work and school. In the constant shifting from work to study and back, it never crossed his mind to give up. On a tight budget, he sometimes found himself in the barest of accommodations. Mike soldiered on, learning to do things on his own while remaining focused on his dream.
Far from family and friends to share his achievement, he finally graduated and was next working his way up the career ladder. Mike has been a lawyer for four years now, a senior associate living in a modest two- bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Through all the hardship, he has remained humble, seeing the world through the eyes of the underprivileged.
Having experienced the difficulties and uncertainties of living in a foreign land, he knows first hand what hurdles Filipinos must face in their wish to find a better life. With both his personal experience and his achievements as a lawyer, Mike now wants to help them –not only with immigration hurdles but also to educate and prepare them for an obstacle course with the right tools to ease the transition of living abroad.
He believes that those who’ve made it themselves should never forget their own roots and must go back to help others of their ilk. We started out simple at some point in our lives, he says, and now it’s our turn to give back. Neither is there shame in wanting to work and serve in a foreign, he adds, but to make more sense of it, we should never forget why we left in the first place.
Templo & Templo Immigration Consultants, established in the US last May, specializes in immigration law services for Filipinos seeking to migrate or find employment in the US. Not only does it provide legal advice, it aims to show Filipinos that the pursuit of their American Dream is a serious undertaking. Great personal sacrifice is embraced, much as those they left will miss them. Yet in the myriad difficulties they will face, there will also be the comfort of knowing that, in the bigger picture, migrants are also serving the interest of all Filipinos. The global Filipino has made the act of remittance a tool for national economic survival.
But a privileged life is not an exclusive enclave of the haves. Mike Templo wishes to share his experience by helping others attain their own dreams. He now wishes to help them because he believes everyone deserves the same opportunities he's created for himself.
Templo & Templo Immigration Consultants will be holding a seminar at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) conference center, Makati on September 20. Atty. Templo will tackle do’s and don’ts and keep the floor open for questions and consultations on the scope of immigration issues.
