By: Harvey S. Keh

Last Saturday, the country woke up to the sad news that former
President Corazon Aquino has passed away more than a year after she
was diagnosed to have colon cancer. Millions of Filipinos have
expressed their grief as our country has lost not only a former leader
but more importantly, an international icon of freedom, democracy,
good governance and ethical leadership. Until the very end and even
when she was already experiencing so much pain, former President
Aquino continued to tell all of us to not only pray for her but to
pray for our country. She was a loving mother not only to her children
but to each and every Filipino. Never since the time of the death of
her husband, Ninoy Aquino, have we seen such massive outpouring of
love, adulation and support from the Filipino people. Once again, our
country that is often ravaged and divided by political scandals,
bickering and insatiable greed by our leaders has been united by
former President Aquino as she did when she led the restoration of
democracy through the EDSA People Power 1 Revolution.

Yet, I believe that the sacrifices of Ninoy and Cory Aquino will all
be lost if we as a people do not do our own share in helping move our
country forward. Ninoy died so our country may have freedom yet we
still have millions of Filipino families who continue to be bound by
the bondages of poverty while many of our present government leaders
live in expensive mansions and travel in style using luxury vehicles.
Until her very last gasp, Cory fought and prayed for Truth,
Accountability and Good Governance in our country. We saw how she
stood by NBN-ZTE Star witness Jun Lozada when he was besieged by the
forces of our present administration after he revealed the details of
the corruption-laden deal. We saw how she marched with thousands of
Filipinos to oppose moves by this present administration to push for
Charter Change as a means to continue to stay in power beyond 2010. We
saw how she took a firm stand in asking for the resignation of
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005 when Arroyo couldn’t explain
her involvement in the Hello Garci scandal. Despite leaving the
Presidency and facilitating a peaceful turnover of power in 1992, Cory
continued to remain active in ensuring that the evil forces that
continue to seek to destroy our democratic institutions will never
succeed. Now that she has passed away, we are challenged to not let
these sacrifices go to naught as now more than ever, the Filipino
people should continue to fight the good fight that Ninoy and Cory
Aquino started.

As the 2010 elections draw near, we celebrate another legacy of Cory,
the restoration of our right to vote for the leaders that we believe
will effectively and ethically govern our beloved country. Let us not
put to waste this right by not only voting for the right leaders but
more importantly, volunteering our time, resources and energy to
support them. The problem with many Filipinos is we often choose to
stay in the sidelines and remain non-partisan in the elections and
just let the candidates slug it out with each other. When we let this
happen, the candidate which has more money and political machinery
will more often than not win over the one who has less. We have seen
this for the past elections where the corrupt and greedy politicians
continue to win while those who have the better track record and the
best intentions to serve the country lose out. Let us not let this
happen again in 2010, people power was a legacy that Cory will forever
leave behind to the Filipino people, I believe that in the upcoming
elections we will have a golden opportunity to honor this legacy and
sacrifice made by Ninoy and Cory by uniting ourselves to unceasingly
volunteer, campaign and support the kind of leaders that our country
needs today. Leaders that will embody the kind of effective,
empowering, selfless, courageous and God-fearing leadership that both
Ninoy and Cory so generously gifted our nation with.

Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com.
______________________________________________________
Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social
Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government and is the Lead
Covenor of Kaya Natin.

By Harvey S. Keh

I was in Naga City over the weekend to witness the inauguration of the Naga City Governance Institute, which is an initiative by the local government of Naga City to promote best practices in local governance all over the Bicol Region.

As we all know, Naga City under the leadership of Mayor Jesse Robredo for the past 18 years has been transformed from a 3rd class city in the 1980s to the queen city of the Bicol Region today.

As a testament to his outstanding leadership, Robredo was one of the first Filipinos to receive the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service which is acknowledged as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize. Among those who came for the inauguration were Bert Hoffman of the World Bank, Bill Luz of Ayala Foundation and Prof. Leonor Briones of the UP-National College of Public Administration and Governance.

During the talk of Prof. Briones regarding the challenges that the Bicol region continues to face in terms of uplifting the quality of life of its constituents, I was struck by her presentation of the high poverty rate that the Bicol region has.

According to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the poverty incidence in the region is at an alarming 51.1% based on its latest statistics which was gathered in 2006.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

Joy Konstantine G. Agustin

I BELIEVE former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada said it correctly that he and Kabayan Vice President Noli De Castro would be the toughest rivals in the 2010 elections.

That is, of course, supposing the law acknowledges the legality of his being able to run again for the presidency.

Coming from a similar background, with both having the much needed appeal of the masses, the two men are assured of getting a big chunk of support (converted into votes) from the poor, who, as what Erap claims, comprise of about 80 percent of the Filipino voters.

Erap, though convicted with plunder but was swiftly granted pardon by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, continues to charm the masses during his provincial sorties. It is as if the Filipino has already forgotten that at one point in history, this man has been tried and convicted of stealing money from the people.

And while the so-called opposition leaders, Villar, Roxas, Lacson, et al, continue to do their separate tactics to rank in the surveys, Erap’s popularity easily moves his name on top of the list.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Harvey Keh
Contributor

LAST week, I wrote here about the possibility of alternative and reform candidates running and winning in the upcoming 2010 National Elections. The responses I received were varied, many overseas Filipinos sent personal emails to me pledging funds ranging from $5 to $1,000 in support of an alternative and reform Presidential candidate, while some sent me responses saying that it will be useless for the likes of Among Ed Panlilio, Gov. Grace Padaca, Mayor Jesse Robredo, Chief Justice Reynato Puno or Bro. Eddie Villanueva to consider to run since they will not win.

One even cited the experience of Bro. Eddie saying that he positioned himself as a reform Presidential candidate in 2004 only to lose badly despite having his Jesus is Lord (JIL) Movement behind him.

Another letter sender said that we should have learned from the experience of the Ang Kapatiran senatorial candidates in the last elections wherein they ran on a platform of change but none of them even made it to the Top 20.

While I agree that we should approach this with a dose of pragmatism and being realistic, I also think that we shouldn’t confine ourselves to candidates that we feel are winnable. If you look at the past elections, Filipinos have always voted and rallied around the usual names, faces and those who are presumed to be winnable, not willing to take a risk on the reform candidates because they feel that these candidates don’t have a shot at winning.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Harvey S. Keh
Contributor

FOR the past months since Kaya Natin! was launched, I have met and talked with several groups and organizations all asking if Kaya Natin! will be fielding its own Presidential candidate for the upcoming 2010 National Elections. These groups include organizations of farmers and peasants, civil society groups, socio-civic organizations, business groups, religious leaders and student leaders.

Rumors have been circulating that Kaya Natin! leaders, such as Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio, Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca and Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo are considering to make a run for the highest position in our land. When I asked them about this, they simply laughed because they feel that it’s such a far-fetched idea given their lack of national awareness and say that their personal preference is to go back to their private lives after they have served out the remainder of their present terms, Panlilio as a priest while Padaca as a practicing certified public accountant.

Yet, in almost all of the more than 60 colleges and universities that we have visited in our Caravan of Good Governance, the students who attend never fail to ask the Kaya Natin! leaders to strongly consider to run as alternative and reform Presidential candidates for the 2010 polls.

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