DoTr Sec. Arthur Tugade (2nd from left) inspecting a project. (DoTr)

Department of Transportation (DoTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade was conferred among government officials conferred with the 2019 “People of the Year” award by PeopleAsia magazine.

Tugade earned the award by continuing to work hard to live up to the president’s tall order of giving Filipinos a comfortable life.

“Such were the marching orders of the President when he appointed Arthur “Art” Tugade to become the country’s new transportation chief. But if there’s anything that life has taught this commuter-turned-billionaire-turned-Cabinet member, there’s no such thing as impossible,” wrote Jose Paolo S. dela Cruz in the article, “DOTr SECRETARY ARTHUR TUGADE: On incorruptible roads,” published by People Asia.

“‘Sometimes I get criticized for having the Transportation Secretary post when I don’t even know how to drive,” said Tugade. “My response: the more I deserve to be here because I’ve spent the earlier years of my life riding jeepneys, taking trains and using public utilities,’ he says in the vernacular, with the same no-nonsense intonations reminiscent of the President’s.”

The secretary added, “For this spry 73-year-old, the advantage of experiences comes from the disadvantages of growing up poor. ‘Gamay ko, nagamit ko at nasakyan ko. I can feel kung ano’ng gastusin ang iindahin ng Pilipino. Coming from ‘dukha,’ hindi ko obstacle yan. Kaaya-ayang experience ’yan na naghanda sa ’kin sa kagawaran (I’m familiar with it, I’ve used it, I’ve taken rides in it. I can feel what’s too much spending for the Filipino. Being poor has never been an obstacle. These are experiences that prepared me for my post).”

Through Build, Build, Build, the DoTr and its partner agencies are not just laying out the future of Philippine transportation but building it.

“Despite the progress they’ve made, Tugade and his peers are still subjected to many criticisms, with some expressing doubts over the innovations his agency delivers. His only request: to let them do their job,” according to Dela Cruz.

“Give us a chance to do our job. Don’t be quick to judge these new projects as a failure. Before you know it, these will have redefined the way Filipinos travel in the future,” Tuade said.

Born into humble beginnings in Claveria, Cagayan, Art, with his parents and siblings, eventually moved to Sampaloc, Manila, where he spent much of his childhood.

“Through hard work and perseverance, he was able to enter the San Beda College of Law, where he became classmates with President Rodrigo Duterte. Before he knew it, the boy whose family didn’t even have a proper toilet in their house, had graduated magna cum laude in 1971, before completing his post-graduate studies at the National University of Singapore under the NUS-Stanford Executive Program in 1985.