Tiwala Pinas, Ako ang Pag-Asa!

Tiwala Pinas, Ako ang Pag-asa! is a political talk held yesterday November 30, during the celebration of the Bonifacio Day at the Singson Hall of Ateneo de Manila Grade School headed by the Ateneo Task Force 2016 led by Mauie Doque. It was a meaningful event with a line up of brilliant speakers from various sectors of young government servants, an economist and a coach from the World Bank, a politician from the poorest municipality in Mindanao whom created change against political dynasty, lots of laughter from the performances of two comedians, brainstorming with the #dearfuturepresident segment, singing and dancing from a talented violinist and many more mind stirring experience.

The talk started with a performance from Ateneo Glee Club and followed by a thought-provoking question, WHAT HURTS YOU THE MOST? Is it the traffic? Is it the poor facilities in MRT/LRT? Is it the corruption of some of our government officials? Is it the lack of education of the poor? The question strikes because what hurts you the most, may actually of the same feelings with others. These collective sentiments may be put as one so that we may be able to fathom a solution to each.

Now the talk runs a whole day period and I cannot discuss all of its content but I will write an overview for some of the speakers that I think their topic is essential especially in the upcoming election next year.

Bahala na si Batman! The famous Filipino expression when a person doesn’t know what to do next.  As the opening speaker, Mr. Bryan Giron, a History Professor of Ateneo de Manila University emphasize about how we, Filipinos usually put the burden of our decision making and supposed to be action to each of our problems and our responsibility as a citizen to fate or to other people. The irony is, Batman is just merely a character of movies and stories. It does not actually help us fix things aside from its unrealistic views of changing the world. So in the end, instead of relying to Batman to fix our raging problems, why wouldn't we start to fix it ourselves? Think and move.

For me, this sounds really harsh especially when you are a Batman fan but we, Filipinos are too trusting about others doing the job for us or relying the work to be done through luck. So the question is, why do we start doing it ourselves? Simple things matter like doing the things that we are supposed to do every day. For example, instead of relying for the metro aid to clean our streets, why don't we keep our trash and throw it in the right place. Start small and consistent. It will go a long way to create change.

Another essential topic is the passion to change the system for good governance and cutting the thread of a 40-year old political dynasty. This was presented by Mayor Flora Villarosa. A Cebuana who came home to her birthplace in Siayan Zamboanga del Norte to be able to help the poorest rank municipality in the entire Philippines. When an episode of a documentary-video of Biyaheng Totoo by Kara David about Siayan before the mayor became elected six years ago was shown to us, you will shed some tears due to the lost of hope that the people of Siayan felt from the government and even themselves. Poverty at its finest that you can contemplate and appreciate the value of even the tiniest thing that you have right now.

After five years, when Kara David made another visit to the place and after Mayor Villarosa was elected to the position. You cannot even believe yourself how much change happened to the entire place. It just warms your heart to see and realized that change can be done with good governance and the passion to serve the poor. A mayor who offers her entire salary to be given to her constituents just for them to achieve living on their goal of having access to food, health, education and a lot more. What an inspiration to those who want to lead a very depressing area.

Other major topic also is about the young servants of our government. How serving the government made a good impact to them by being able to strive with the ideology of helping and promoting good will to our country. As Ken Abante, from the Department of Finance said, as a young servant, I am able to realize the goals that I dreamed before I became a government employee. So this is a great opportunity for young servants like me to polish a sector of the government by reinventing it while serving the masses. By being aware of the change that I can do for the people and actually can somehow do something about it is a new form of activism, by being inside the organization than being outside in it.

I truly realized that we should stop generalizing the people of the government because not all of them actually are corrupt, stupid and incompetent. I know I am one guilty of the general term but somehow, hearing the sentiments of our young public servants who were activists, political leaders and other humanitarian volunteers in their previous life before serving the government. I think we should also give them the benefit of the doubt. I agree, working in the government is challenging in terms of morality and integrity. Let's still hope that these new young breed of brilliant public servants will live to its idealism until the end.

I think, those are some of the things I would like to share with regard to the event but actually, there were a lot of great speakers who speak and had proven their point with the issues pertaining to the problems being face by our country. One thing that I know for sure, let's all not lose hope and trust. Let's hold on to what little hope and trust we can give for our country. Let us also realize that we are about a 100-million population in the entire archipelago and only around 1.4 million government employees are in service. If we only rely in the change our government can do for us, then we are doomed. I hope let us also try to begin the change within our own.

Lastly, I would like to thank Ateneo de Manila University specifically to the Ateneo Task Force 2016 for coming up with the event for free from the admission up to giving the audience free lunch and snacks. Being able to have the initiative to do such thing is one way of paving the way of the youth to its rightful path. I hope there will be more open talk of this kind in the future.

-maricar alquizola

12/01/2015 / MTA ©