Sec. Jesse Robredo’s Wish

I only met this man twice, but this limited chance made me admire how good a government official he is, with  his feet firmly on the ground. With his sudden death, I can’t help but treasure these moments as I try to gather inspiration so that in my own little ways, I may be able to help Sec. Jesse achieve his dream not for himself, but for us and this nation.

Our first meeting was scheduled at 9am at the DILG office building. As we enter his office, he immediately stood up from his desk and shook our hands. He was wearing his usual semi-barong uniform, flashing a very warm and welcoming smile as if saying, ‘Come in. I am here and I am ready to listen.’ From that moment on, I knew, he was not your ordinary politician.

During that time, the President has already released a draft of the palace’s stand on SK abolition and it was DILG’s turn to make a stand by studying further if PNoy’s decision of just placing a youth representative in the barangays is most apt for the situation. Sec. Jesse, opened his office doors to us and listened to us with big ears. We laid down our proposal on how we think the Sangguniang Kabataan could be reformed and how it could serve its purpose best under the platform of transparency and accountability to the people that it serves.

We exchange thoughts, we shared experiences and views and we saw from our end how this man values the youth and how he trusted that the Sangguniang Kabataan--the youth representatives in the government, could still be a mechanism for bringing about positive change in our society. With that much trust, he ordered his secretary to draft a suggestion letter to the President, highlighting the reform measures that we were proposing. With his phone, he called a reporter and asked him if he could drop-by his office to interview us and to publish a press release regarding the DILG’s stand on SK reformation.

We were overwhelmed. While majority of the politicians were pointing out all the negative things they see about SK, Sec. Jesse saw even the smallest amount of goodness that’s left with SK, and he held on to it. He believed that those small amount of goodness could produce a ripple effect, given the right support and enough faith in the youth.

To all Sangguniang Kabataan officials, let us not disappoint Sec. Jesse. If not because of him and his trust with the youth, you might not be holding any positions right now. The Sangguniang Kabataan could just have been a piece of our country’s history, leaving a mark that it was the youth’s government that has not served its purpose. As we thank him for saving our niche in government service, let us make him proud that he had made the right decision. Do your best to serve your purpose of addressing youth concerns, of uplifting the lives of our fellowmen and of being of service to those who are in need. He would be smiling at us from heaven if we would be able to achieve local governments and SKs that are highly functioning, transparent and accountable to the people.

I felt lucky enough to have had that opportunity to meet and be listened to by a high ranking government official and an internationally recognized public servant, but after a few years, I recently got the chance to meet him again face to face as he represented the President was supposed to deliver the keynote address  at the closing ceremonies of the 9^th National Youth Parliament in Naga City last May. He read the President’s 7 minute speech and shared us a story of his own, of what turned out to be a challenge.

It was a story of his conversation with 3 grade six public school students whom he had a chance to speak with during his visit to a far flung school. He asked these students of their dreams; one student said that she would want to be a teacher someday so that she could teach children in their area so that they wouldn’t have to walk kilometres of distance to be able to study. The other student said he dream of becoming an engineer so that he could build infrastructures that are needed in their area and so that he could fix their roads to help people have easy transportation. The last student said that she would want to be a doctor so that she could attend to those sick people in their area who have no access to health services.

Sec. Jesse said that if we will look at it, the story seems to be shallow, but if we look at it deeply, these were dreams of poor students who want to be successful not for their own sake--these were dreams of poor kids who want to be successful because they wanted to serve others and those who are in greater need than them. Now that our priorities and dreams seem to be focused on ourselves, Sec. Jesse ended his speech with a wish: “Sana pag dumating ang panahon na kayo’y nagtagumpay na, maalala ninyo ang kwentong ito at maalala nyo nang nangangarap pa kayo, hindi kayo nangarap para sa inyong sarili, nangarap kayo para sa iba.”

I hope that his death would not remind us of a plane crash but instead, may his death remind us that once there was a man who has advocated good governance, who believed so much in the youth’s potential, who dreamed not for himself but for others and who have offered himself selflessly so that this country could say that a transparent and accountable government is possible, that we can change our paradigms and that we are indeed, a country of good Filipinos.

Cynic Says

This morning, I woke up very early for two important things—to run and to encourage others to run. And while endorphins are rushing throughout my whole body, I was happily distributing our flyers and registration sheets for the fun run we will be having this June 3 (on which I encourage you, dear reader, to join J). This run, entitled, ‘Run for Hope’, is organized by the Liga ng mga Barangay-Taytay Chapter, where I am a volunteer staff, the Mabuting Taytayeno Movement, a local group I co-founded and many other people’s organization and NGOs within the municipality.

The very concept of the run is to be able to sustain our “Box of Hope Project” (BHP) that our group has been doing for the past three years.  The BHP aims to give hope to the less privilege students in elementary public schools by providing them with school supplies that they need for school. To encourage community participation, we ask concerned individuals to donate even a single pencil,  notebook, paper or whatever school supply they could give, together with a message of hope to the would-be-recipient of their donation. All these are placed in a recycled shoebox and are distributed to the students at the beginning of the school year.

As I was completing my laps, I passed by a cluster of people probably at the age of 60s and above. I stopped and for the nth time, discussed the details of the run to persuade them to join the cause. Then a man, who seems to be the eldest among the group, asked me who the organizers are. As part of my spiel, I mentioned our group and the Liga ng mga Barangay, and upon hearing the word ‘barangay’ he waved his hand saying, ‘Ay barangay, di ako sasali dyan. Wala ng matino sa gobyerno ngayon. Dati maayos pa ang mga namumuno, ngayon wala na’.

That was such an unexpected response, but I manage to say, ‘Sir, I don’t think that you’re argument is right. There are still a lot of good people in the government and we can’t just generalize like that.’ He then argued, ‘Maniningil kayo, e kukunin lang yan ng barangay.’

On that point, I felt that I am on for a debate. I responded, ‘Sir, to assure you of the transparency of the project, we will be posting financial reports after the event. At kaya din po sumama kaming mga organizations sa pag-organize, e para ma-ensure na may patutunguhan ang pera. We even invite you to join us on the actual date of the distribution of the school supplies.’

Sure of his conviction he said, ‘Dapat yung grupo nyo na lang ang nag-organize, di nyo na sinama ang barangay’. I then argued that it is very important that people engage themselves in the government and that the civic society should be working hand in hand with their LGUs to make sure that their government are accountable and transparent.

As if not hearing my response, he said, ‘Wala na, wala ng pag-asa ang gobyerno na yan’. Now understanding how cynical he is, I tried ending the conversation by saying, ‘May pag-asa pa po. We are conducting this run for hope to show the people that there’s still a place to hope-- that through working together with the government, we could change the course of our politics. Kung di po natin kayang paniwalaan yun, e wala po talagang mababago.'

He just shook his head, signifying either his disagreement to what I said or it may be a sign that he realized he was wrong. I am still hoping that it was the latter. 

I find this conversation very alarming-- imagine how many of our people think like that? How many of us are becoming cynical that change is still possible? If a great number of us do, then our country is really doomed. 

I always believe that for our country to move forward, it should not be the effort of the government alone. Instead, we should be rowing our paddles together, duly synchronized with the government. If we have trust issues with our officials, then the more there is a need for us to talk to them, to engage our selves with them and to influence them to be good.

It's just a few weeks before our run and I am still hoping that more people would be supporting our cause-- that more hopeful people would be able to provide hope to those who need it badly.Cynics may argue, but hey, we're proving them wrong.

Immortal

As I lay on this cold, dark ground

my thoughts will linger.

Unstoppable. Viral.

My voice will be heard 

in every blow of the wind.

My heart will be felt 

by the warmth of the sun,

the waves of the sea and

by the embrace of everyone

I loved.

My eyes will be reflected

by glitters of joy on the face

of everyone I touched.

My music will forever reverberate,

as long as the birds chirp

and the rivers flow.

My hands will touch endless lives

by those whose heart I lit with fire.

How We Can All Be Heroes

“The decision to act heroically is a choice that many of us will be called upon at some point in time.”

~Dr. Philip Zimbardo

In a society where there is much of a need for desperate help and assistance, heroes emerged and showed the world that one may not be too small to make a difference.

For the CNN Heroes awarded the past few years, it was very noticeable that all of them had been aware that their respective communities are endowed with perennial problems that needed action. It was a point in time where they were left with a choice to do nothing to solve the problem or to step up and address the situation. All of them choose the later with a positive view that anyone could all be heroes if we choose to do what is right and if we choose to effect positive and lasting change despite the sacrifices it may bring along.

In 2008, Liz MaCartney saw how Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives of so many people so she gathered the people together for help. In 2009, Efren Penaflorida saw that there is an emerging need for education and good values with the growing number of children in the slums so he went on pushing his cart, bringing education to the kids in the slums. Year 2010, Anuradha Koirala saw that women should be empowered and respected by ending sex slavery in her country, and just recently, Robin Lim, a FilAm, saw that the 200,000 women who died a year due to pregnancy related problems, deserve to be protected and taken care of. They were all able to see that something was wrong or lacking and someone has to do something about it-- and in fact, they did.

Margaret Mead once said that we should “never believe that a few caring people can ever change the world, for in the end, that’s all who ever have.”

These people who made the decision to act heroically are the same people who change the world day by day through patches of hope that creates ripples of effect that may be able to reach all the ends of the earth. They are and they should be an inspiration that shall help others decide to do good deeds to the next person beside them and to the rest of the world.

I personally believe that all of us are heroes yet to be unleashed. With a dedicated heart and a positive spirit, we can all resolve to be heroes that shall uplift our country, who’s sadly in despair. We may not be able to heal millions of sick people or educate millions of out-of-school, but we, on our own little ways can at least be a less burden to the society by living a life of service through dwelling on our strengths and radiating its energy to a more productive endeavor.

There are millions of unrecognized heroes in all corners of the earth: a whistle blower who just had exposed a tremendous corruption anomaly, a taxi driver who had returned a bag with 50,000 cash, a government official who had refused to accept a bribe and a poor man who saved lives on fire. These are ordinary people who are caught up in extraordinary situations. They were left with a choice to be a hero or just to be someone of the norm-- and they choose what matters most.

The good news is that, we too can be heroes—and it’s just a matter of choice. 

Green Patches of Hope

Photo taken at Anawangin, Zambales

Last November 22-24, I volunteered myself to interview assist in the last phase of the qualifying procedures of the Ayala Young Leaders Congress, an annual event sponsored by the Ayala Group of Companies as a concrete expression of their commitment in developing young leaders for nation building. It is my second year in doing so and again, I’m filled with so much happiness and inspiration, having been able to meet some of the country’s top student and community leaders.

This year, I was able to meet a diverse group of young and idealistic individuals as I spent at least 40 minutes with them while they wait for their turn to be interviewed by some of Ayala’s top executives. I felt that it was my task to at least ease down their growing tension as they wait, and to be able to do that, I usually ask them of what they do or what are they busy with. This simple question introduced me to stories which I consider, green patches of hope that are foundations necessary for Nation Building.

Of the 179 interviewees, I was able to meet at least 15 of them. To speak of variety, some of them are seminarians, students from the Philippine Military Academy, debaters (whom I did not try to speak too much. heheJ), NGO volunteers, Muslim youth advocates, Church youth leaders and some former Sangguniang Kabataan officials. Noticeable however, is that all of these young minds were able to see that there are some flaws in each institution they belong to, with the Church not spared. However, it is also worth noticing that despite the status quo, they are ‘in’ for bringing about lasting change in their crusade of conveying goodness into whatever field they’re indulged to.

 “There is no such thing as a perfect organization, but that’s why we are here--to make a difference..” an interviewee told me.

True indeed, that is actually what matters most--- that we make a positive difference regardless of how small or big our actions are. We may not, in our leadership, change the systems in our organizations which we think are wrong, but through our leadership we CAN at least inspire our members to do good so that the ripple may reach the farthest parts of the sea.

These youth leaders are said to be rare or as they said, a part of the chosen few. It is now becoming a challenge to multiply this breed of leaders, but on a second thought, it is possible. 

Just imagine a country where all the youth (or at least the majority) are doing their part in nation building. Imagine these green patches of hope boosting it colors to the already faded colored archipelago. 

Imagine.

I always emphasize when I deliver speeches to the youth that we must already rephrase Rizal’s words, “Kabataan ang Pag-asa ng Bayan” with “Kabataan na Dapat ang Naasahan ng Bayan.” These young individuals are concrete proof that the later statement is now becoming reality-- that slowly but surely, the youth are living up to their predestined purpose of making this country a much better place.

Dying with Purpose

On my way home from attending the necrological service and the burial of a co-AYLC alumni, I received a text message that my friend’s dad just died. He was not just my friend’s dad—in many ways, he had also become our dad.

Two deaths in a row.

The death of my co-alumnus Kuya JD, got everyone by shock. He was a soldier who had served his purpose. He died in war and he died a hero. Everyone grieved for the loss of a soldier and a country’s youth leader whom at his very young age had offered his life fighting for peace and his advocacies.

To all good leaders who do nation building for loving this country so much, please do not get killed. This country needs you. Let’s try to live so that others may live as well. Let’s try to live so that we may be able to touch as many lives as possible and bring them the greater good. We are in desperate need of heroes who are alive and kicking and are on fire.

On the other hand, my friend’s dad, Tito Tony, died in a slow yet so fast way. Monday, he had been rushed to the hospital. The next two days, he had kept us waiting for a miracle, until the day arrived and he decided to finally, be a big fish in heaven. He died of liver cirrhosis, surpassing 12 years of the "taning" the doctor gave 15 years ago.

Tito, in his life time had been able to live lights and shades. He can star a movie of a man who was a goon-turned-hero. A bad guy, who had become a family man, changed his disposition in life and become God’s loving servant. Hearing his stories from my friend and from some of my aunts and uncles who had been his friend, made me visualize how there is hidden goodness in every person—that despite all our delinquent deeds, we are set for a greater purpose.

Also, tito also sent us the message of not abusing our bodies now that we are still young and full of zeal because indeed, everything has its own consequences. We may not feel that now, but time will come that we’ll get to reap just what we sown.

Two deaths in a row made me ponder the importance of life—how we usually take it for granted and how it may run by so easily. In an instance, this precious life that we try so hard to protect and nourish could be gone. Who knows?

The message I’m trying to get here is that, let’s try to live our lives to the fullest by trying to understand and live our purpose. This purpose may have come to us in the early stages of our life or even on our dying moment. Whatever it is, let’s not put it into waste—so that when we die, we know that we lived.

To kuya JD and Tito Tony, you had live a life of purpose. Please send my regards to Jesus. 

When the Truth Hurts

So here’s the picture,  everybody’s  reacting to some of my tweets quoting some of our councilors during their Sangguniang Bayan’s regular session. As  of what I am hearing from our common friends, they say that what I am doing is “paninira sa kapwa”,  which includes tweets on which I quoted a councilor mentioning “styrophone” on his privilege speech. 

It has been somehow a habit to watch the Sangguniang Bayan sessions every Wednesday primarily to check on how our councilors had been doing their job and sometimes, to lobby some issues that they had been so deaf that they we’re not able to hear it from the different sectors of the society. To maximize technology and my friend’s BBM, I log on to twitter every time we watch the SB session. I post updates as to how things are going around the session so that even the ordinary people who have lost interest in participating in the government and has decided to tweet and use facebook all day long, would have had been informed of how the people they elected has been functioning.

Who among you knows that a resolution has already been passed authorizing our Municipal Mayor to enter in to a loan agreement with land bank for the purpose of constructing a new public market?

Who among you knows that the tents we see in front of the public market are temporary and was loaned for Php7.5 Million?

Who among you knows that it has already been broadcast in print adds and radios that our municipality is already implementing an anti-plastic campaign, though according to the committee on environment, it is still under further study?

I too would have not known that if I did not spent time, energy and resources to be able to watch a session.

According to the LGC, sessions are supposed to be publicized and approved resolutions and ordinances must be available to the eyes of the public. In fact, there are areas in the Philippines where  Sangguniang Bayan sessions are aired live on TV. Now I’m starting to get bothered why on earth does these councilors are making a so-big-deal when they are quoted during their ‘public sessions’.

My dear councilors, my point here is that, regardless of how you deliver, whether it be on the right grammar or not, the people has to know the things you’ve been talking about. The thing is that, because the people has to know, they are as well  hoping that you devote extra time to review and analyze things first before standing before them in the podium. We are as much as eager to hear from you the things that you had been doing since in all possible ways, it affect us.

I myself do not have a perfect grammar, but please, when you’re not so sure of what you’re going to say, speak in the language you are comfortable with. The aim here is to let the people understand the things you’d been talking about and not to impress us with the English language.

Again, my sincerest apologies if my tweets, quoting what you’ve said had somehow caused some negative impact to your so-protected and beloved names. I just realized that really, most of the time, the truth hurts.