from left to right: Senator Panfilo Lacson and Mayor Sonia LorenzoHoning the Guiding Principles of Trust, Honor and Respect
FEU Auditorium, November 13, 2008
The Political Science Society of Far Eastern University under the robust leadership of its president, Mr. Dean Yap spearheaded another informative and widely relevant symposium on good governance and good leadership. The event was with assistance from the Institute of Arts and Sciences Student Council that made it probably an affair to remember, a good way to almost end the year by clearly sending a message of what good leadership is all about, what is the essence of trust, honor, and respect. It is an event made open for all of the students not only from FEU, but also from other colleges and universities. Indeed, it was a red letter day for those who are seeking for an exemplar of a true measure of leadership and competence amidst the predicament of the Philippine Society.
The guest speakers for the said event were Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija and Senator Panfilo Lacson of the14th Philippine Congress. Mayor Lorenzo was the first to talk about how she and his group, "Kaya Natin" were trying to elucidate to the people especially the youth that not all of the public officials in the Philippines are corrupt, as perceived by the public. This group where she belongs has been advocating for significant change towards good governance in Philippine politics, be it in the national or in the local context. Mayor Lorenzo shared how she as a local chief executive transformed the fourth class San Isidro Municipality into having a participatory and a transparent government through capability building resulting to community-oriented governance, where the people work hand-in-hand with the local government in the proper administration of their locality towards achieving their goals and aspirations, which according to Mayor Lorenzo, created "values for social transformation". A major element to such successful governance is trust, a relationship of reliance. Trust in the government is a way to a "better electoral behavior".
Following Mayor Lorenzo's talk was Senator Panfilo Lacson who made a sturdy presence in the stage with a flaming red tie, thus making the crowd attentive than ever before he made his way through the podium. His speech revolves around his downright condemnation of the widespread anomalies in the government today. According to him, "we (the Filipino people) have allowed our leaders to abuse us" and that "we have tolerated abuse and corruption". He also added that "noon patas ang laban para sa lahat, mayaman man o mahirap"; he said, before there is equality for all. He likewise reiterated his underlying motto, "what is right must be kept right; what is wrong must be set right". As it is observable, his talk was too aggressive and much like a campaign propaganda for his possible presidential bid again in 2010 national elections, it was entirely different from the humble and fairly educating speech of Mayor Lorenzo. During the latter part of the program, I have personally asked the senator on whether he would run again for president come 2010 or not, he answered indistinctly and just said what is more important to discuss is not his presidential bid but the fulfillment of his advocacies; this, notwithstanding the fact that in every slide of his presentation has a noticeable slogan that says, "Patas na Laban, Para sa Lahat". Though he did not explicitly say that it is his campaign slogan, it is already implied.
The mayor's talk before the senator was awe-inspiring, wherein the message of hope for the country is reverberated through the success of their advocacy, compare to Lacson's statement of disgust in the government, which he is actually a part of it, in the first place. It is wholly negative in its entirety. While, both of them admitted that the problem of corruption in the Philippines is pervasive and that change must come to rectify the mistakes of the past in view of a fruitful tomorrow, their means of getting the sympathy of the audience was in contrast with each other. The former's speech was as I've said was with hope in it, differed from the latter's speech that seems like a lip-service. Senator Lacson only presented the facts that most of the audiences may already know such as the all-encompassing poverty that the Filipinos were experiencing which is caused by the population crisis and certain factors. He presented these dilemmas without even presenting a possible solution to it, without any stated goal of renewing the public's trust to their government. He even stated that, "public office has long ceased to be public service". Such generalization of the status quo is in direct contradiction to Mayor Lorenzo's statements and views with regard to public service personified by public trust.
In conclusion, evaluating the totality of the symposium, I say that it was able to meet its objective of giving the audiences the opportunity of knowing what the leaders of the country can say about the plight of our society and also, empowering them to have their own perspective regarding the status quo. While we cannot avoid the differences of ideologies of our leaders, the point of the matter here is that Filipinos must consider that change doesn’t come from these leaders alone; change must come within the people who choose their leader. The hope for change will never perish, for as long as we continually envision ourselves of changing for the better, changing towards a meaningful days ahead for our country. We have already done it so in the past, as we have fought the dictatorship of the Marcos regime, and for that I firmly believed that we could again be united at present, hence overcoming the adversities we are facing.
The guest speakers for the said event were Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija and Senator Panfilo Lacson of the14th Philippine Congress. Mayor Lorenzo was the first to talk about how she and his group, "Kaya Natin" were trying to elucidate to the people especially the youth that not all of the public officials in the Philippines are corrupt, as perceived by the public. This group where she belongs has been advocating for significant change towards good governance in Philippine politics, be it in the national or in the local context. Mayor Lorenzo shared how she as a local chief executive transformed the fourth class San Isidro Municipality into having a participatory and a transparent government through capability building resulting to community-oriented governance, where the people work hand-in-hand with the local government in the proper administration of their locality towards achieving their goals and aspirations, which according to Mayor Lorenzo, created "values for social transformation". A major element to such successful governance is trust, a relationship of reliance. Trust in the government is a way to a "better electoral behavior".
Following Mayor Lorenzo's talk was Senator Panfilo Lacson who made a sturdy presence in the stage with a flaming red tie, thus making the crowd attentive than ever before he made his way through the podium. His speech revolves around his downright condemnation of the widespread anomalies in the government today. According to him, "we (the Filipino people) have allowed our leaders to abuse us" and that "we have tolerated abuse and corruption". He also added that "noon patas ang laban para sa lahat, mayaman man o mahirap"; he said, before there is equality for all. He likewise reiterated his underlying motto, "what is right must be kept right; what is wrong must be set right". As it is observable, his talk was too aggressive and much like a campaign propaganda for his possible presidential bid again in 2010 national elections, it was entirely different from the humble and fairly educating speech of Mayor Lorenzo. During the latter part of the program, I have personally asked the senator on whether he would run again for president come 2010 or not, he answered indistinctly and just said what is more important to discuss is not his presidential bid but the fulfillment of his advocacies; this, notwithstanding the fact that in every slide of his presentation has a noticeable slogan that says, "Patas na Laban, Para sa Lahat". Though he did not explicitly say that it is his campaign slogan, it is already implied.
The mayor's talk before the senator was awe-inspiring, wherein the message of hope for the country is reverberated through the success of their advocacy, compare to Lacson's statement of disgust in the government, which he is actually a part of it, in the first place. It is wholly negative in its entirety. While, both of them admitted that the problem of corruption in the Philippines is pervasive and that change must come to rectify the mistakes of the past in view of a fruitful tomorrow, their means of getting the sympathy of the audience was in contrast with each other. The former's speech was as I've said was with hope in it, differed from the latter's speech that seems like a lip-service. Senator Lacson only presented the facts that most of the audiences may already know such as the all-encompassing poverty that the Filipinos were experiencing which is caused by the population crisis and certain factors. He presented these dilemmas without even presenting a possible solution to it, without any stated goal of renewing the public's trust to their government. He even stated that, "public office has long ceased to be public service". Such generalization of the status quo is in direct contradiction to Mayor Lorenzo's statements and views with regard to public service personified by public trust.
In conclusion, evaluating the totality of the symposium, I say that it was able to meet its objective of giving the audiences the opportunity of knowing what the leaders of the country can say about the plight of our society and also, empowering them to have their own perspective regarding the status quo. While we cannot avoid the differences of ideologies of our leaders, the point of the matter here is that Filipinos must consider that change doesn’t come from these leaders alone; change must come within the people who choose their leader. The hope for change will never perish, for as long as we continually envision ourselves of changing for the better, changing towards a meaningful days ahead for our country. We have already done it so in the past, as we have fought the dictatorship of the Marcos regime, and for that I firmly believed that we could again be united at present, hence overcoming the adversities we are facing.
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