Mabuhay ang Bayanihan nating mga Pilipino! (Info for those who wish to help)

DONATIONS for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy may be dropped off in the following SITES:

1. Team Manila, Petron, and Papemelroti branches
2. Tulong Bayan – White Space
(along Pasong Tamo Extension, nr Glaxo Smith Klein and Silverlens Gallery)
3. Tulong Bayan – Expo Centro, Araneta Center, Cubao
(Volunteers are welcome, 8am-9pm)
4. Ateneo de Manila University, Manny V Pangilinan Building
(Volunteers are welcome starting at 6am)
5. De La Salle University
6. Poveda
7. Habagat @ Promenade Square, Recto (Organized donations are turned over to NDCC and GMA Fdn)

Or go by the nearest public elementary school or barangay hall – you will most likely find them as evacuation centers.

WHAT YOU CAN GIVE:

1. Canned food, noodles, rice, big bottles of water (for packing)
2. Others: Cooking oil, Salt, Sugar, Coffee (for packing)
3. Food, drinks, water, energy drinks (for volunteers)
4. Clothing (let’s pack wearables and kindly not share the unmentionables)
5. Medicine (First aid kit, paracetamol, pain relievers, and meds for diarrhea, colds, and cough); you may also add vitamins
6. Blankets, Pillows, Mats
7. Candles, Matches/Lighter (just in case)
8. Some Evac Centers would appreciate Utensils (steel or plastic) and Plates (plastic or paper). Please note that there are centers that do not have water supply.
9.Trash bags and cleaning materials to evac centers to help site management and health concerns.

ALSO:

1. We are accepting donations for nails, roofs, and wood (house-building materials) for BASECO. Most of the houses there have been flushed by the raging waters. For those particular items, kindly email helpbaseco@gmail.com.

2. The Black Pencil Project is collecting pencils and school supplies for flood-stricken day care centers in Manila. Log on to http://www.blackpencilproject.org for more info.

3. Those based in Cebu may find helpful info here: http://emsdy.blogspot.com/2009/09/cebuanos-you-can-held-ondoy-victims-too.html

4. For financial donations:
Corporate Network for Disaster Response
(a) BDO Galleria Branch
ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center
Savings Account 004640030358

(b) BPI Ayala Paseo Branch
Current Account 0031065402

*Please fax your deposit slip to the fax no. of CNDR (632)687-4208 so that CNDR could acknowledge receipt of your donation and eventually give all the donors “accounting” of the donations.

Maraming salamat, po.

Confessions of a Note-taker: from the sidelines, for the nation

[A re-post from Facebook, 3 September 2009]

A broken heart, for anyone, is the hardest to heal. There’s pain, denial, and a deep feeling of hurt, sadness, and aimlessness. What I and my colleagues are going through the past few days is no different.

It feels like there’s a hole, an emptiness, wrought from a battle prematurely ended. A pain that is sympathetic to our leader’s own. Who would have thought that Mar, sacrificing his bid for the presidency, could be this personal?

But IT IS personal.

HE is my personal choice,  for my own reasons and  principles.

Truth be told, I have never  lasted in a job for more that  eight months. With Mar and  his team, I have stayed for  more than a year.

I signed up knowing Mar was someone I could possibly trust – with my future, my family, my friends, and my country. But to put my stake on a man for all of that isn’t an overnight thing. It was a six-month process that led me to  understand who he is, what was needed in the job, and what was necessary to make the vision, a reality.

I also stayed because it’s an amazing experience to be surrounded by strong, brilliant hearts and minds – young and old – all believing in change, all working for change. We believed in Mar. We knew what we got ourselves into, and we were willing to give what was being asked of us.

At some point, there was still a struggle within me until one dark day, a friend and mentor told me: COMMITMENT is FREEDOM.

I started a joke…

I used to joke that I had a fling with Europe but I was committed to the Philippines. Though jokes are half-meant, mine is wholly the truth. My heart belongs to this country. I work and serve for its positive transformation. So now, to make it happen, all I needed was to be completely free. All I need to do was to choose.

Mar has earned his right to be MY President and I would fight for him any day. Through his work and his work ethic, I knew he was someone I would want to be accountable to. He was someone who knew, that as My President, he was also accountable to me. He deserves my sacrifices, as much as I deserve his.

In February during our general staff meeting, I asked him if he was ready and willing to fight with us and for us – tooth and nail – to the very end, just as we were for him. He looked me straight in the eye and broke the silence by solemnly replying, “I am.”

He then joked that it was as if it were a marriage proposal, and with a laugh it was all we needed to know. We were ready.

We weren’t ready though,  for his latest sacrifice. It was  our ultimate test of being his  staff, his supporters. We  shed tears because we knew  he was capable of it, and we  knew how much it hurt. It  was every bit as personal to  him as it was to us.

He was our President. He still is. What he did made him all the more deserving of the position. What he did has shown us the kind of man he is - the kind of man we always knew, and yet the world always failed to see.

Given recent developments, we are at a standstill and yet we move forward. My loyalty to Mar remains as my passion to fight for him has deepened even more. It’s been a long time since I fought this hard for anyone, and it is heartening to find my colleagues (now great friends) in the same journey.

The Dream Team

Over a year ago, a friend and I imagined the rise of a Liberal Party dream team with Mar and Noynoy in the lead. I said it wasn’t possible because, personally, I gathered that Noynoy is not ready.

And yet, here we are. From where I stand, Noynoy is subject to the same process that Mar went through before I lay my stake on his candidacy a hundred per cent. Still, I am here because I want to ensure that my boss’s sacrifice and Noynoy’s potential do not go to waste.

I remain because I believe in Mar’s  decision and in Noynoy’s  opportunity. I believe that it’s  about time we rise above  ourselves, just as Mar did. I believe  in the opportunity for each of us to  pull a Mar Roxas: setting aside  personal plans, personal pain,  personal doubts and ego – and pave the way to ensure that this nation will FINALLY embrace its greatness.

As Noynoy goes through his process of discernment this weekend, so do most of us. And for what it’s worth, I’d like to share a quote I love which a friend lifted from a Jesuit: “Your calling is the intersection of your heart’s greatest desire and the world’s greatest need.”

Some people walk the earth and never know their purpose. I think My President already found his. I hope Noynoy also will.

This was never a tree that fell in the forest*

Many still doubt, many still  wonder – but as a witness to  the journey and the  unfolding of history, it  makes me feel privileged  and honored to know that  such great men (in Mar,  Noynoy, Butch Abad, Chito  Gascon, Jesse Robredo, Jun  Abaya, Jovy Salonga, and  others) still exist. It makes me wonder why so many people continue to doubt and deny that at this day and age, we deserve leaders like them.

During the weekend I was told that Mar said this was no longer about him, but about the country. Wherever we are now, and wherever we take this fight – it is no longer about us individually, but about us as a nation.

I do think that at this time, we Filipinos are being challenged to be politically mature: to vote for platform not person, to vote for a team not an individual, to vote with our rationality and not with our judgments, to vote for our future and not just for our present, and to vote because we love ourselves and we deserve better.

And as far as the so-called Opposition goes – we need to see clearly whether they are more of the same or for real change. As far as I’m concerned, a lot of those who brand themselves as Opposition are just of the same kind as the one they are opposing. The difference is, one is inside a palace while the rest are outside its gates (while one used to be inside, too).

And in the end…

F Sionil Jose, when I was privileged to meet him, said that “someone who has a sense of nation, someone who has some kind of loyalty to this nation – that is someone who will find the best way to be a Filipino.”

I have always believed that  my being as a Filipino is a continuous process. Though I wish it weren’t so necessary, I felt the need to further mature politically this soon. At the heart of this change within me are our bosses – Mar and Butch, their families and mine, my colleagues and friends, the campaign advisers and even the detractors, and my advocacy org, YTRIP. I am grateful of all of them for strengthening my freedom, my commitment.

My broken heart will be    whole again – and for sure,    this is not the end but a  beginning. Thanks to Mar, I  assert that NOW is a great  time to be a Filipino.

It’s a great time to be free.
———————
This is a personal piece and does not in any way represent the views of the organization.
————–
*Sorry, I can’t help it. It’s an internal thing

FROM SURVIVAL TO PERPETUATION—AT ALL COST

Today is the 4th anniversary of the Hyatt 10. Some people agree with them, some dont. Personally, I admire their strength, integrity, and commitment – to their cause, to this country.

———————————–

Statement of Hyatt 10

8 July 2009

                                                     

GMA’S CRIME AGAINST THE NATION:

 FROM SURVIVAL TO PERPETUATION—AT ALL COST

 

When we submitted our collective irrevocable resignation from the Cabinet on 8 July 2005, we were absolutely convinced that the expose on the “Garci tapes” had severely damaged beyond repair the credibility of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. And the “least disruptive and painful option that can swiftly restore normalcy and eventually bring us to prosperity” was for Mrs. Arroyo to voluntarily relinquish her office. Otherwise, the longer she insisted on staying in office—at all cost—under a cloud of doubt and mistrust, the greater the damage to the economy and to our political institutions. In the end, the poor would suffer the most.

It has been exactly four years since our resignation, and the serious concerns we expressed in our resignation statement have come to pass. The truth remains suppressed and the lying continues: the Garci case was never resolved, “executive privilege” became a convenient tool to frustrate truth-seekers, even the President’s health condition has become the subject of subterfuge. Corruption thrived and has continued unabated.  Its many faces—the First Couple and ZTE, Romy Neri,  CyberEd, Joc-Joc Bolante, swine scam, General Garcia, Euro-Generals, DPWH bidding anomalies, and, lately, the noodles scam—have earned for the Arroyo regime the dubious distinction of being among the most corrupt in the world. Even the killings of journalists, activists, and peasant and union leaders, despite stern warnings from international human rights watchdogs, and journalist and law associations, have not stopped and, worse, have persisted with impunity.

Amidst all of these, Mrs. Arroyo seems undeterred. Perhaps to escape all the criticisms for the sad and despicable state of the country, the President—the most peripatetic in history—has taken flight, with her usual coterie of politicians, family members, and hangers-on, wasting precious foreign exchange, while the fiscal deficit threatens to go haywire. As we speak, she may be scaling the pyramids of Egypt!

As the end of Mrs. Arroyo’s term fast approaches, a profound fear of having to account before our people for all the cheating, the lying, the stealing, and the killings, not to mention, the neglect of the basic welfare of our people, especially the most vulnerable, has taken hold of the President, her family, and their cabal. From mere survival, the President is now consumed by schemes, however illegal or unconstitutional, to perpetuate herself in power—indefinitely. 

One track is in play: the subversion of the Constitution, or what constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas calls “constitutional gang-rape,” to enable her to retain her powers under a parliamentary set-up as Prime Minister.  Mrs. Arroyo’s lapdogs in the House have taken the first cha-cha step with the passage of House Resolution 1109, which seeks to convene Congress into a constituent assembly to pass upon amendments to the Constitution, even without the participation of the Senate.  Any time now, we expect the House to convene by its lonesome self and trigger the filing of a “justiciable” case in the Arroyo-appointee dominated Supreme Court. The hope is that a favorable judgment—that legally the House can convene by itself as a constituent assembly for as long as it secures the ¾ votes of all members of Congress—will give  pork-starved members of the House the legal justification to go along with the scheme, no matter how patently illegal.

But should the cha-cha train derail—and by the day, if many of the House members are to be believed, it is becoming an increasing possibility—the Arroyo regime has also put into play a more sinister plan: the declaration of a state-of-emergency.  The signs are dangerously evident: the mysterious bombings in Mindanao and Metro Manila, which seem to follow the same pattern as previous but failed attempts; the militarization of the Cabinet and strategic offices in the bureaucracy; the accelerated promotion of Class ’78 generals—the PMA batch purported to be loyal to the President—in strategic services and positions in the military, at the expense of officers belonging to Class ’76 and ’77; the unprecedented increase in the armed personnel of the PNP’s Metro Manila-based Special Action Force (SAF), which reportedly is now even better equipped than the military, which, because of rumblings and divisions within the ranks, has been rendered an unreliable ally of the regime.

And what about the only desirable option acceptable to our people—the scheduled May 2010 Presidential elections?  While Mrs. Arroyo herself and her minions have repeatedly assured us that there will be elections in 2010, their actions belie their claim. Even the election automation project, which is supposed to ensure an orderly and fast count, is now mired in controversy. Suspicions linger, with talks of intervention by “big people in high places” to manipulate even the automated process, that automation is not yet a certainty.

What now? Lest we find ourselves once again fighting a repressive and kleptocratic authoritarian regime, we must be vigilant. We must expose and fight every move of the Arroyo regime to stay in power against our will and in violation of our Constitution. We call upon all those who truly cherish our democratic way of life, no matter how imperfect it may be, including those in the military and the police, to stand up against those who seek to exploit the instability and confusion in our midst and impose their dictatorial will upon us. Let us all join hands—with urgency and resolve—in ensuring that a clean, peaceful, orderly and automated election does take place in May, 2010.

Finally, to the President and her cohorts, this challenge we throw: Don’t push your luck. You have crossed the line too often enough. With impunity, you have exploited our people’s cynicism and apathy for your own narrow and selfish ends. As with all things,  this too will come to an end.  Of this, we are certain.   

 

With God’s help, the Filipino people will put an end to this despicable Arroyo regime.

 

 

FLORENCIO B. ABAD                                              EMILIA T. BONCODIN
Former Secretary                                                            Former  Secretary
Department of Education                                          Department of Budget and Management

 

TERESITA QUINTOS DELES                                  CESAR PURISIMA
Former Secretary                                                                 Former  Secretary 
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the                    Department of Finance
Peace Process

 

IMELDA M. NICOLAS                              CORAZON JULIANO-SOLIMAN
Former Secretary                                             Former  Secretary
National Anti-Poverty Commission          Department of Social
                                                                                   Welfare and Development

 

ALBERTO D. LINA                                                    GUILLERMO PARAYNO
Former Commissioner                                                Former  Commissioner
Bureau of Customs                                                        Bureau of Internal Revenue

 

JUAN B SANTOS                                                   RENE C. VILLA
Former Secretary                                                     Former Secretary
Department of Trade and Industry                   Department of Agrarian Reform

How To Choose A President In 2010: What Should We Look For In A Future Leader?

This article by Antonio G.M. La Viña, JSD, Professorial Lecturer, U.P. College of Law and Dean, Ateneo School of Government, was originally published in The U.P Forum, July 2009
————————————————

“The enemy of the good is the perfect.” This is the adage I will bear in mind when I enter the voting booth on the 10th of May, 2010. At that time, I will probably have four or five candidates, possibly more, to choose from. They are the ones who remain standing, with serious chances of winning after the longest campaign in Philippine history.

All of the choices will be imperfect: if the country allowed it, one choice would be a reform candidate – a non-“trapo” local government official, a Christian preacher, a young councilor or an environmental and sustainable agriculture activist. If the COMELEC or the Supreme Court allow it (which I cannot imagine them doing given the clear prohibition for any reelection under the Constitution), another choice would be an impeached ex-President. Three or four senators from varying backgrounds and perhaps a former Congressman turned Secretary of Defense would complete the spectrum of options.

How will I choose a President in 2010? It is tempting to do this in a very simple manner: to approach politics, like all things in the Philippines, as personal. But to say that politics is personal can mean two things. It can mean on one hand: Sino ang kakilala ko? Who is closest to me? Who is the one I am most personally connected to? Or it could mean: Ano ang alam ko sa kandidato? What do I know about a candidate? I suppose, as a good citizen, I would choose a President based on what I know about the candidate, rather than my personal connections to a candidate. But wait, this is the Philippines: what I know about a person comes not mainly from what she or he has done in her or his public life but largely from the fact that I know him or her personally.

Take for instance, one of the potential candidates, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro. I have known Gilbert for more than 20 years as we were classmates in the UP College of Law. As someone who studied for the bar exams in the same study group as Gilbert, I know him to be one of 2 or 3 of the most intelligent Filipinos that I have personally known, and I have studied and worked with and taught thousands from 3-4 generations in the last 30 years. More significantly, I know him also to be one of the most patriotic, humble and honest public servants (and I have known thousands as well), able to make hard choices even against his own family and class interests. The discipline, professionalism and leadership he has brought in his work in the Defense Department are good qualities of a future President for this country. But does the country have an appetite for a candidate supported by the present administration? Will Secretary Teodoro be compromised and become unelectable if he is endorsed by President Macapagal-Arroyo?

I also know Governors Ed Panlilio and Grace Padaca quite well. They inspire me and many others: I look up to them. Both governors, potential candidates for 2010, are founders and champions of the Kaya Natin Movement that aim to espouse genuine change and ethical leadership in our country. The movement seeks to promote genuine and lasting change in our government by promoting transparency, social accountability, people empowerment and electoral reforms. By upholding these values and principles, Kaya Natin hopes to help make our government and our leaders more responsive to the needs of the Filipino people and enable it to deliver basic services to those who need it most in the most efficient and effective way.

Together with Brother Eddie Villanueva, John Carlos de los Reyes, Olongapo City Councilor (Ang Kapatiran Party 2010 Presidential Candidate), and environmentalist Nicky Perlas, Governors Panlilio and Padaca are considered by many to be non-traditional politicians and reform candidates. All of these reform candidates will be running on a bare bones, volunteer-manned campaign fueled by idealism and hope. Their potential candidacies excite me but it is difficult to imagine any of their campaigns prospering unless they unite and form a unified front. Even then, the odds will be daunting.

We should also acknowledge that, given their lack or limited governance record, the country is also taking a risk with these reformers. I would have preferred that Governors Panlilio and Padaca finish three terms as Governors first and that Brother Eddie, Councilor de los Reyes, and Nicky acquire local executive experience before running for national executive positions.

The good is of course not monopolized by the reform candidates. To me, the candidacies of Senators Mar Roxas, Manny Villar, Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon are attractive and merit consideration.
Behind the hoopla of the padyak commercials of Senator Roxas has a solid record of implementing and legislating economic policies that have created jobs and have benefited the poor. Senator Roxas, as Trade Secretary and as Senator, has also been at the forefront of consumer protections and defending our trade interests in the WTO. For example, he has taken leadership, in the face of the opposition of the multinational drug industry, to ensure cheap access to medicines by the poor. His recent vote for CARPER (extending the agrarian reform law with reforms) is something I will count in his favor as I make my decision on who to vote for in 2010. Finally, I like the fact that Senator Roxas is supported by people I have the highest respect for – from veteran political and social activists like former Education Secretary Butch Abad to young and imaginative campaign workers like Rose Romero and Clare Amador.

Senator Villar also has a solid pro-poor and pro-development record, as a businessman and a legislator. The passion with which he is conducting his campaign is also attractive to many. I can personally attest to his commitment to local development as reflected in the manner with which Senator Villar supports capacity building of local governments all over the country. I have met many local government officials who have told me that find in Senator Villar someone who understands the challenges of development that their local government units are facing. Finally, to the extent that political courage and will is an important quality for me in our future leaders, I will always remember Senator’s Villar’s actions the night the House of Representatives impeached former President Joseph Estrada.

Senator Legarda is also a real option for me as I decide who to vote for in May 2010. Indeed, on substantive issues that I care deeply about, such as peace in Mindanao and environmental issues, her record is admirable. Through many years, I have personally seen how she has been a passionate advocate for sustainable development. Through these years, I have also been quite impressed with the work ethic of Senator Legarda who has clearly put at the center of her life a passion to lead the country to better times.

I do not know Senator Escudero as well as others in the UP College of Law, not having the opportunity to teach him. But a viable candidacy of a 40-year old politician who is explicitly appealing to the youth vote is very tempting to support. The clarity and passion with which he articulates his positions will serve Senator Escudero well if he is elected as President.

While I see the positive aspects of the candidacies of Senator Roxas, Villar, Legarda and Escudero, I am concerned that they do not have local governance experience. Through the years that I have worked on governance issues, not just in the Philippine but all over the world, I have come to believe that the heart of governance, the place where it matters most, is local governance. My hope is that one day, we will have a President or a head of government that comes from the ranks of local government officials. For this reason, I will include Senator Gordon among the options I will consider, given his record as long time Mayor of Olongapo. For the same reason, if the candidacies of MMDA Chairman and former Bayani Fernando and Mayor Jejomar Binay became viable, I will not necessarily rule them out as I make my choice.

Reflecting on these choices for President, I actually feel good about what is in store for us in the 2010 Presidential elections. I think we have a number of good options. Of the candidates I have mentioned in this article, I could easily vote for any 3 or 4 of them.

So how will I choose a President in 2010 among the three or four that I like? The Movement for Good Governance developed and the Moral Force Movement has endorse a criteria that would enable us to select transformational Leaders. They have also recommended a score card to use to evaluate the 2010 candidates, for President and other options. It is this criteria and scorecard that I will use and encourage others to apply in answering the question – What should we look for in a future leader?

Our future leaders should be transformational leaders who bring about change in individuals, institutions and the country to build a just, humane, prosperous and genuinely democratic Philippine society. Transformational leaders promote the moral values of integrity, social responsibility, and love of country through their practice of effective, empowering, and ethical leadership.

An effective leader is competent, decisive and proactive and has the track record to support this. As Kapitan ng Barko, she/he has the ability to steer the ship of government, to arrive at the destination of a prosperous and just society. Sample indicators for effective leadership are:
• Does the candidate have a vision of society with a clear, comprehensive and viable platform of government? Does this translate to consistent and clear positions on key issues (e.g., human rights, agrarian reform, education , etc.”
• Does the candidate work hard, get things done, and demonstrate political will?
• Does the candidate have a sound and effective record
• As a legislator (in terms of number and quality of bills);
• As an official of the executive department (in terms of effective, innovative and sustainable programs)
• As a leader of citizen organizations or business enterprises (in terms of effective, innovative and sustainable programs)

An empowering leader is participative/engaging, inspiring, and is committed to social justice. As a servant leader, a Lingkod ng Bayan, she/he sets a good example for all to follow and work together. Indicators include:

• Does the candidate involve stakeholders in decision-making, and in implementing and evaluating policies, programs and projects?
• Does the candidate promote social justice? Addresses basic needs (food, health, education, shelter) and promotes interests of the disadvantaged (women, indigenous people, handicapped, etc.)?
• Does the candidate inspire unity, trust, and hope in people?
• Does the candidate prepare others to be leaders to succeed him/her?

Finally, an ethical leader is a Katiwala ng Bayan: God-fearing, has moral ascendancy and integrity, a clean and honest track record, and has proven integrity. Inidcators are:

• Does the candidate demonstrate good moral character (lifestyle); have a circle of associates (allies, backers, party, broad-based volunteers) who are people of integrity and are pro-reform; and transcend self-interest and sacrifice personal/familial/vested interests for the common good (political dynasty, conflict of interest, nepotism)?
• Does the candidate: advocate and practice meritocracy in government; personally comply with laws (self, family and subordinates); prosecute/punish offenders; potect and promote human rights; and tke responsibility for his/her actions?
• Can the candidate be trusted, based on his/her record and background, to use the national wealth and resources for the common good and to practice transparent use and accounting of public funds?
• Has the candidate acted to expose injustice and corruption and has this led to prosecution and/or enactment of a law or other concrete actions?

“The enemy of the good is the perfect.” I will remember this principle when I vote on the 10th of May, 2010. But I will vote with confidence and optimism. I do so knowing that I will vote not for the least or lesser evil but for the best among a number of imperfect but good choices. If many of us do this, if enough of us do this, we will change the country.

The Man I Trust

Roxas unstoppable to fix country -
Prepared to make it happen in 2010
By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:37:00 04/30/2009

MANILA, Philippines—Nothing can stop Sen. Manuel Roxas II from running for President in 2010. “What other meaning can my life have other than that?” Roxas said at a dinner on Tuesday with Philippine Daily Inquirer editors and reporters during which he declared that he would not be deflected from his goal.  

“I am ready to serve. I am prepared to make it happen. I think I’m the best qualified, competence-wise, value-wise. And I owe it to my country to try what I can and fix it,” said the 51-year-old senator.

Roxas, a grandson and namesake of the late President Manuel Roxas, said it would be a great disservice to the Filipino people if he would not offer himself as a presidential candidate. He said people should be given a chance to choose him. “What higher calling can there be than try to fix your country?”

Roxas is not disheartened by his relatively low ranking in the surveys now—he placed fifth in a presidential preferences survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations last February. “May 2010,” he said when asked at what point he would throw in the towel and transfer his support to a more “winnable” candidate and trust that the latter would fix the country.

Element of Trust

Roxas, the Liberal Party president, said the single most important element in choosing a President is trust. “One way of analyzing the ills of the country is [that] there’s no trust—it’s every man for himself. People in fact trust the reverse. They don’t trust that if they fall in line and follow the rules and do what’s right, then they will get ahead,” he said.

“[The thinking is] for me to get ahead, I must make suhol (give bribes), I must make singit [jump the queue] and I must find a different way. That has become the most corrosive, dangerous development—the acceptance that that’s a fact of life here. If you have that, you really have a broken society,” he said. He said a system abetting corruption and “subterfuges,” and where “having connections is the norm” was not a democracy.

Elite back-scratching each other

“You just have the elite back-scratching each other and protecting each other’s interest. The elite screwed us up over the last four generations,” he said.

He acknowledged that he might be part of the elite in terms of socio-economic status. “But my record, my father’s record and grandfather’s record speak for themselves. It’s not like at anytime they stole or took advantage of their position, or in any way used their position to enlarge their economic interests,” he said.

The moneyed Araneta-Roxas clan owns the Araneta Center, the vast commercial center in Cubao, Quezon City, and are landowners in Capiz province. Roxas City, the capital of Capiz, was named after the clan’s patriarch, the first President of the post-war Philippine Republic. “Why is it that Cubao is only doing call centers today when I was the guy who started it? [As trade and industry secretary], I was the one who awarded eco-zone status [to investors], which meant incentives and no taxes,” said Roxas.

No to conflict of interest

When he headed the Department of Trade and Industry in 2000, Roxas also chaired the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, a government agency that promoted the establishment of economic zones for foreign investments.

Roxas developed, conceptualized and wrote the PEZA rules for the grant of incentives for information technology locators and businesses. While he was in the executive department, Cubao was never allowed to apply for eco-zone status with PEZA. Roxas would not allow it so as not to be accused of conflict of interest.
When he saw that office spaces in Metro Manila were virtually empty as a result of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the then trade secretary harnessed the potential of the country as a global information technology hub.

Make IT Philippines

He launched “Make IT Philippines” and succeeded in convincing ousted President Joseph Estrada to make IT the focus of his first visit to the United States. This led to the biggest global industry names to invest in the country, creating 400,000 jobs for call center agents and Filipino IT workers.

Last year, Roxas helped the private sector raise $3 million to fund a study by the McKinsey & Co. international strategic consultants to take the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to the next level. “The industry needed a new strategic plan that was credible … to pay for a professional business development team that will continue to keep the Philippines present in the international arena,” he said.

Roxas finished economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. Before returning to the Philippines, he worked as an investment banker for a number of years in the United States. He began his public service stint in the House of Representatives in 1993.

He was appointed trade and industry secretary by ousted President Joseph Estrada and, after Estrada’s fall from power in 2001, was reappointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In 2004, he won a Senate seat with a staggering 19.5 million votes, the largest obtained by a candidate in any Philippine election.

Advice from a Cuban

Roxas remembers how he came to decide to return home. In 1985, he was watching Ted Koppel’s “Nightline” on ABC News when the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos announced the holding of snap elections.

He remembers a Cuban friend, Roberto Gozueta, the then chair of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Corp., asking him: “What are you doing here? Marcos has declared elections.”

When Roxas said that he was thinking about it and that it was a risk, the Cuban told him: “I am Cuban. I have no country to go back to. You have a chance to do something for your country.”

Sense of duty

Roxas said that he has been very lucky in his life and for that reason feels a corresponding sense of duty.

He said that if there is one lesson that he learned from his late father, Sen. Gerardo Roxas, it was a “deep sense of duty and responsibility to give back.”

He recalled his father’s metaphor for public service: “You were born with a ladder. So after you climb your ladder, don’t pull it up. You have to leave it there to allow others to come up.”

On his engagement with Korina

It’s a reality of my life… If for whatever reason it costs me, well, panalo na ako eh. I’m with Korina… There’s no turning back I am getting married.

On what he thinks is Arroyo’s greatest mistake

GMA, after the 2004 elections, believed that “Might is Right” versus “I do good, the people will reciprocate”… She gave up on the people.

On his presidency

At the end of the day, it’s all about the track record – what have you done with the power that was given to you?

The coolest thing to happen in the Pinoy travel industry…

At least to me. Haha. Very responsive, very creative. Makes you wanna get married for the heck of it! 

Fantastic idea, ROX!

It’s time for girls to go!

Short talks from experienced solo-girl travellers plus a discussion on women travel in the Philippines.

Admission is FREE. Register at youthtrip@gmail.com / rox.cs@primegrp.com.