October 2009 Archives

By Harvey S. Keh

THE growing euphoria about the Presidential bid of Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has been attributed mainly to him being the only son of the martyred former Senator Ninoy Aquino and the well-loved former President Cory Aquino. The Filipino people who have grown tired of the rampant graft and corruption practices perpetuated by leaders of this present administration are now looking for a leader who has integrity, right moral values and can inspire Filipinos to once again dream and work for a better future. They saw all of those qualities in Ninoy and Cory, naturally many of them now see it in their heir apparent, Noynoy.

Despite this, one cannot also say that Noynoy hasn't earned his own stripes in the realm of politics and governance having been a well-performing Congressman who represented Tarlac for nine years and now being a member of the Senate for the past two years. Many question his legislative record but a brief check on the kinds of laws he has authored or helped craft would indicate that his main focus has been on preserving the integrity of democratic institutions and the promotion of transparency and social accountability in our government institutions. These are areas where the present government has found to be lacking especially when it comes to social accountability wherein not one person involved in the Fertilizer Scam, Hello Garci, Swine Scam and the NBN-ZTE Broadband deal has actually been tried and put to jail.

By Cristyl Mae B. Senajon INQUIRER.NET

STATISTICS show that 54 percent of the total voting population comes from youth bloc. Of the 2.6 million new voters, 80 percent are youth.

These statistical data show just how fundamental the role of the youth will be in shaping and determining the outcomes of the highly anticipated 2010 National and Local elections. If tapped well, these young Filipinos may well elect and put into power a whole new breed of leaders who lead the country on the fence of accountability, transparency and integrity, thereby creating a government that is more effective and more responsive to the needs and welfare of its constituents.

If this is going to be the scenario, and I'm keeping faith this will be, no more migrant Filipino workers will ever need to leave their families behind in search of greener pasture beyond borders, no more kids will be left to labor in the streets to feed their families; they will be sent to school to learn to read and write, no more families will go famished; no more Filipinos will die without being seen by a healthcare professional and above all, no more Filipinos will choose to be indifferent because they will now hold accountable their leaders for their statements and actions.

By Harvey S. Keh   IN the last two weeks, two very telling survey results conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) was released. The first survey showed that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's satisfaction ratings have continued to plummet with a -38% rating as compared to -31% last June. The other survey which was also conducted between September 18-21, showed that among all aspiring Presidentiables, it was Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III with a huge 60% rating whom the people overwhelmingly chose as the best possible leader to succeed our unpopular President. In past SWS surveys where Aquino's name wasn't included, no other Presidentiable has actually received more than 35%.   Aside from the growing disgust of people in our present leadership, the two surveys also show that one of the most important qualities that Filipinos from all walks of life are looking for in our next President is his or her moral and ethical fiber. Aquino is the only son of the martyred former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. and the well-loved former President Cory Aquino, two known icons of good governance, ethical leadership and democracy in our country. The younger Aquino is now seen as the anti-thesis to the present leaders of this administration which has been swamped with seemingly unending graft and corruption charges and several political scandals including the infamous 1 Billion Peso Fertilizer Scam and the NBN-ZTE Broadband deal.   Moreover, if you look closely at the SWS Survey, you will notice that in June 2009, there were18% of Filipinos who were undecided on whom to vote for. Three months later, in the September 2009 survey where Aquino was part of, this number was drastically reduced to 6%. This shows that with Aquino's entry into the Presidential derby, more Filipinos now have a clear choice on whom to vote for in the 2010 polls.  In my own personal experiences as a college teacher at Ateneo de Manila University, many of these undecided voters are young Filipinos who like many of us are desperately longing for genuine and lasting change in our country. These young Filipinos aged between 18-35 years old comprise more than 40% of our voting population and if united can actually swing the tide in favor of its chosen Presidential candidate.  Unfortunately, many of these young Filipinos have yet to register given that the deadline for voter registration is fast approaching on October 31,2009.   It was therefore timely that Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan's Register and Vote (RV) Movement  together with Aksyon Kabataan and Kaya Natin! recently called on the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to extend the voters registration beyond October 31 given the spate of calamities that our country went through the past few weeks. I am sure that recent developments in the political sphere of our country has brought about a renewed sense of hope and reform that has encouraged more first time voters to take the time to register and vote for the right leaders in 2010. Let us hope that the COMELEC will give these young voters a chance to shape the kind of future and country that they want to see. In 2010, let us make sure that the voice of the Filipino youth be heard not only in the streets and the internet but more importantly, in the polling stations.   Besides, it's their future at stake here, right?   Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com   Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government.

By Harvey S. Keh

IT has been more than a week now since Typhoon Ondoy ravaged Metro Manila and nearby provinces. We have all heard horror stories of people swept away by floods and families spending almost 24 hours atop their roofs while praying earnestly that the rising flood waters will not reach them. Thousands of families continue to live inside cramped evacuation centers as their homes and personal belongings were literally washed away. Those lucky enough to still manage to save their homes spent the last week cleaning up and fixing what was left. Personally, the whole ground floor of our house in Malabon was submerged for several hours in flood water, leaving all our electronic appliances including our two cars in our parking lot as casualties in the wake of Ondoy.

A highly respected mentor of mine told me last week that finger pointing and blaming at this time of crisis will not help but I also believe that if we as a people do not learn from this tragic experience then history may just repeat itself. Many questions come to my mind right now. Given the fact that we already know that we can expect more than 20 typhoons to visit us every year and we are also one of the most disaster prone countries around the world, why wasn't our national government agencies led by the Department of National Defense ready or prepared to address such a national calamity? My friend and his family who spent more than 19 hours atop their house in Marikina wasn't even rescued, they had to wait until the flood water had subsided before they went down on their own and walked their way out of their village. Another question is, why can our national leaders afford first class plane tickets, 5-star hotel accommodations and dinners at fancy restaurants in other countries yet we cannot even afford to buy enough rescue equipment such as rubber boats and amphibian vehicles? Finally, why did the flood water rise at such a high level and at such a fast pace? Where did the money for a better flood control and drainage system go? I hope the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) didn't use it to purchase print ads on national dailies that depict their leader as the so-called, "Tamang Daan sa 2010". International groups have consistently said that billions of pesos are lost every year due to graft and corruption that is rampant among many of our current government leaders. Imagine if those billions went to the development of better flood control systems, roads, rescue equipment and advanced weather prediction facilities then I'm sure not so many Filipinos would be suffering today.