Many go through phases when it comes to childhood dreams and ambitions— from doctors, lawyers, and teachers to police officers, pop stars, and so on. While some change their dreams and aspirations as they discover other interests and passions, there are individuals whose ambitions seem to have been crystallized even before they were born.

At a young age, Roberto “Bobby” C Yap SJ had already shown interest in numbers so it was not a big deal when he decided to pursue an AB Economics (Honors) degree at Ateneo de Manila University, graduating cum laude to boot. But one is not meant to live a cookie-cutter life and oftentimes, we stumble towards crumbs that lead us to unimaginable roads and destinations that allow us to live with passion, coherence, meaning, and integrity.

For Fr Bobby, those crumbs were probably sprinkled when he first stepped foot as a five-year-old kindergarten student at Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.

Jesuit through and through

“I went to a Jesuit school from kinder to high school. They were very good Jesuits,” he says of the Spanish missionaries who taught in the Catholic Chinese community in Cebu.

After graduating from high school, a scholarship fell into his lap which he grabbed and thus, was able to attend a residential school in Canada with 200 students representing 40 countries—an experience he describes as “enriching.”

As the sixth child in a brood of eight, Fr Bobby was the only son who was able to study in Manila for college and he made sure to make the most out of it. At Ateneo de Manila, the young Cebuano was dedicated, striving for good grades. He was a conscientious student who earned his bachelor’s degree in three years.

But it was also at the height of political unrest and students and adults were drawn into the maelstrom of marches, assemblies, and protest. Like most young Filipinos who yearned to change the path of their generation amidst the national instability, Fr Bobby became a student leader along with two other Ateneans and future Jesuits: Danny Huang and Jett Villarin (Jesuit Conference and Asia Pacific Regional Assistant and Ateneo de Manila’s 30th University president, respectively).

As a member of the Ateneo Christian Life community, he engaged in apostolic work, retreats and immersion programs. At one point, Fr Bobby traveled to Antique for summer immersion and met another Atenean - Evelio Javier, the country’s youngest governor at the age of 28. “We lived with farmers in Antique for a month in one of Governor Javier’s agricultural projects, so I was able to meet him.”

‘We were really in the presence of inspiring leaders and Jesuits like Fr Roque Ferriols, Fr Francis Reilly, and Fr Raul Bonoan. Fr Ben Nebres was our dean at the time but he would always attend our leadership seminars; that was very impressive. They were these great, intellectual Jesuits who were very encouraging and they shared their time with us.”

In 1980, the newly-minted graduate was at a crossroads: should he look for a promising and stable job or delve deeper into community organizing and helping the urban poor?

“Fr Jim O’Brien and Fr Reilly suggested that I teach in Ateneo High School for Tulong Dunong,” Fr Bobby says. He warmed up to the idea but his initial concern was how his father would react with his decision to exchange a 9-5 cubicle job for a life in a classroom: “I think he was disappointed but not that disappointed because I was teaching in Ateneo.”

His two years at Ateneo High School proved to be a pivotal point in Fr Bobby’s life. Teaching was not a newfound discipline —he already had experience reaching out to young people through the various retreats and immersion programs he organized back in college. But it proved to be a turnaround. Out of that teaching stint came the realization of his true calling: in 1982, he entered the Society of Jesus.

Over-educated but not under-experienced

“Fr Ben was the Provincial at that time when he was to be assigned to a teaching regency, and he said, ‘You already taught in the high school. Why don’t you go do graduate studies in economics?’” So off to New York he went, pursuing a postgraduate degree in economics from New School for Social Research. When he came back in 1988, Fr Bobby carried on with his vocation while studying theology, earning an MA in Theology and Bachelor in Sacred Theology (STB), summa cum laude from the Loyola School of Theology. In between his studies, he worked for the Institute on Church and Social Issues (ICSI) under Fr John Carroll.

In 1992, Fr Bobby was ordained into the priesthood. His first assignment was to be pastor at the Miraculous Medal Parish in Cagayan de Oro, which covered all the rural barangays of Cagayan de Oro where the indigenous people lived, the City Jail, Boystown, and the home for the mentally ill.

After his pastoral year, he was missioned again to do graduate studies. In 1995, he completed another master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The thrill of economics was very much ingrained in him that when he learned of environmental economics at Harvard Kennedy School, his interest was piqued. The discipline, which focuses on the economic and social impacts of environmental policies and programs, intrigued Fr Bobby. He went to University College London to do a doctorate in environmental economics, and came back in 2002 with a PhD. in Economics.

“I’m over-educated,” he says with a laugh.

The self-confessed scholar soon found himself taking on more responsibilities, becoming Province Assistant for Social Apostolate of the Jesuit Philippine Province from 2004-2009 and its Province Treasurer from 2007-2014.

In 2011, Fr Bobby embraced another unexpected placement.

“Fr Ben [who was the president of Ateneo de Manila] wanted to retire. Fr Jett was the president of Xavier University- Ateneo de Cagayan (XU) and I was asked whether I was willing to go to Xavier,” he recalls.

Keeping the Jesuit mission alive

For nine years, Fr Bobby shepherded Xavier, leading XU’s active engagement in the recovery and rehabilitation in the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong. Under his watch, XU was at the forefront of social engagement like Marawi rehabilitation. It was also during his term that the University achieved its highest levels of accreditation for its college, junior high, and grade school programs, ushered integrated service-learning programs, and expanded its infrastructures like the Xavier Ateneo Sports Centre and the new senior high campus.

“In the last nine years, my primary responsibility was the Jesuit mission—to make sure that the University appropriates the Jesuit mission. In Xavier, I framed it as the question that keeps me awake at night: What makes Xavier distinctive? This is the question that has guided me and the answer is that it is a Jesuit University,” he says.

A Jesuit University, he voices, is one that participates in the Jesuit mission. He refers to the 2019 universal apostolic preferences presented by Arturo Sosa SJ, the superior general of the Society of Jesus: to show the way of God through discernment and Spiritual Exercises; to walk with the poor and the outcasts of the world; to journey with the youth in the creation of a positive future, and to care for the environment.

“It always struck me every time I met with alumni and witnessed firsthand how they have become persons for others. It’s that aspect of being socially concerned and involved. “Men and women for and with others” is a powerful image,” Fr Bobby continues. It is something that he hopes to instill among young Ateneans of this generation.

“It is a real grace and privilege to be in Ateneo and our students should make the most out of it,” he says.

Although he is quick to admit that he did not expect to become the 31st University president of Ateneo de Manila, Fr Bobby, a good soldier like St. Ignatius, has unconditionally accepted his new mission.

“I turned 60 years old last year so I thought I would retire in Xavier. I didn’t plan and expect anything,” he says. “But Ateneo de Manila is the flagship institution; this is our national Jesuit University so that’s what makes it exciting. I’m excited about its potential and influence. There are five things that I should pay attention to and these are mission, advancement/innovation, leadership, people, and the unexpected.”

Leading Ateneo de Manila in these complex and challenging times is downright terrifying but Fr Bobby is unfazed.

My baptism of fire in XU was Sendong,” he shares with a laugh, before adding, “and we responded well.”

Focusing on grace, gratitude, and compassion is what keeps Fr Bobby go on, despite the uncertainties. When situations unfold, shift and move, and belligerence, agitation, frustration, and fear seep in, faith arises and Fr Bobby is a testament to this.

“It really is God’s grace and the name of God is mercy. He never leaves you and your journey,” he says.

The challenges that higher education face and the uncertainty of our future may bring an immediate sense of loss and anxiety but as St. Ignatius once remarked, “God’s love calls us to move beyond fear. We ask God for the courage to abandon ourselves unreservedly, so that we might be molded by God's grace, even as we cannot see where that path may lead us."

This may very well be Fr Bobby’s constant refrain, a beacon to home in on. ■