Ducky Paredes

“Has Pampanga province moved forward during his watch or has it been at a standstill? There you go. Apply what has become of Pampanga to the whole country to see what we can expect of an Among Ed presidency.”

by Ducky Paredes

I am not enthralled, enthusiastic or even just slightly excited over the prospects of the candidacy for President of Governor-Monsignor Among Ed Panlilio. While I am absolutely certain that he will not take a centavo for himself as President, the prospects of the country moving forward during a Panlilio presidency is absolutely nil.
What am I talking about? Has Pampanga province moved forward during his watch or has it been at a standstill? There you go. Apply what has become of Pampanga to the whole country to see what we can expect of an Among Ed presidency.
What this country needs to do is to get back on track. The idea of a Philippines free of colonial masters did not come from the Church or the businessmen or the educated gentry most of whom either scoffed at the idea as ridiculous; some tempered their desire for it, as Jose Rizal did, by suggesting a gradual approach to ridding ourselves of the Spanish conquistadors who were our first colonizer. (The Americans and the Japanese would be the next ones with the Americans letting us go when we were at our most vulnerable — after American bombs had wiped out much of the country’s infrastructure.)
The ones who we must thank for their conviction that we could be a free people were the Anak ng Bayan who were the rank-and-file of the KKK (Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan. These were not trained soldiers or storied fighters whose profession was war. They were ordinary men and women who only wanted the chance to earn a living, a place to live in and reasonable government.
The political goal of the Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan was to completely separate the Philippines from Spain after declaring the country’s independence; teach the Filipinos good manners, cleanliness, hygiene, fine morals, and how to guard themselves against religious fanaticism; and, encourage Filipinos to help themselves and to defend the poor oppressed.
Unfortunately, the Anak ng Bayan of today are still hungry for the same things that the KKK fought for more than a hundred years ago. Worse, we are a country that lives off the Diaspora of the present Anak ng Bayan. We send our people out of the country to earn the dollars that we need to prop up our economy. Surely, those who fought against Spain would have dropped their weapons if they had seen what the Philippines would become a century later. They did not risk their lives for a future country that their children have to leave to find work in order for their families to live.
What we need are practical solutions to our practical problems. If corruption is the problem, is the solution that we install a President who is not corrupt?  Didn’t we try that that before with the first government after the dictatorship? What happened? The corruption moved out of Malacanang but still existed elsewhere in the bureaucracy. How else could so many who served in that administration leave it much, much richer than they were when they came in?
What we need is to change our present culture where success is based purely on the amount of money one has – whether this money was stolen or came about through graft, corruption or racketeering – and power, even if one won this by cheating or through an appointment that one begged for.
We need to change that present culture into a culture of productivity.
According to the Asian Productivity Organization (APO): “The culture of any group, organization, or society is the sum of its philosophy, values, beliefs, rites, personality, rituals, and rules for behavior. It shapes how people act, directing them to be fast or slow workers, individual or team players, agile entrepreneurs or sluggish bureaucrats. A productive nation must start with a ‘productivity mindset.’ One of the key success factors of a productivity movement is the need to rally the people, change their mindset, harness their passion, hone their skills, and build them into a cohesive competitive team. The productivity movement therefore begins with people.”
This is what we need in our next President. We need someone who will bring us out of the present by remaking the Philippines into a more productive nation and will position us towards a better economic future. Sadly, though he has the best of intentions, this cannot be Among Ed.
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Students from 21 universities and colleges in the Philippines compete for the right to represent the country in the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) World Cup to be held in Berlin, Germany in October 2009.
Pilipinas SIFE, the national chapter of the global organization that seeks to train and develop the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders among university and college students, held the league competition and national finals last Friday. This was to select the country’s representative in the Berlin World Cup.
SIFE is a university-based organization founded in Missouri, USA in 1975.  Since then, it has expanded globally and now counts as members 2,000 educational institutions in more than 40 countries.
Under the SIFE concept, students apply their classroom experiences to develop and implement educational outreach programs that teach others the principles of market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, environmental sustainability, and business ethics.
As an organization, SIFE brings together the resources of the business community and the academe in mobilizing and empowering university students around the world to make a difference in their communities while developing their skills to become socially responsible and future business leaders.
“We seek to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders in the country through national and international competitions that highlight the value of free enterprise. Pilipinas SIFE sent a team to the SIFE World Cup held in Singapore last year. We will participate again this year, after we select the best team from this national competition,” said Pilipinas SIFE Chairman Jose P. Leviste Jr.
Invited as keynote speakers during the important event were Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Emmanuel Angeles.
“Because of its emphasis not just on entrepreneurship and success skills, but also on environmental sustainability and business ethics, SIFE serves as our bridge not just to the global community, but also to a better future. Business with a heart produces prosperity with social justice; practiced globally, it will also give humanity and the other species a healthier planet,” Secretary Atienza said in his message.
For his part, Chairman Angeles acknowledged and commended the organizers of Pilipinas SIFE for pursuing opportunities and activities that will develop students’ capability and faculty as mentors in the SIFE network.
“You have successfully bridged the boundaries between impact of learning and value for people through the provision of a systematic process of change and means in developing individual and institutional capabilities; enriching the learning experiences of students; and improving community services through active collaboration. You have contributed in making essential integration of students’ learning and talents into an experience beyond classrooms,” Chairman Angeles said.
Each competing team submitted a written annual report (4 pages) of their team’s activities and educational outreach efforts over the past year.  Each team was also given a 37-minute period to deliver a live audiovisual presentation to the judges, that includes a question-and-answer session.
Says Chairman Leviste: “We now have more than 50 participating schools in the Philippines.  We hope to grow even bigger in the coming years, so we can extend our reach to more students in the countryside who will make a difference in their community.”
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“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’
“We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.” — 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
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hvp 07.19.09)