PNoy and the Filipino Youth
PNoy and the Filipino youth
by: Harvey S. Keh
The Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/node/327052/pnoy-and-filipino-youth
MANILA, Philippines — Now that the first year in office of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is over, many people have given their own views about whether or not the President has been able to fulfill his promises.
Let us look at some of them and how the affect young Filipinos.
• Public-private partnership in education. One of the main advocacies of the Aquino administration has been to engage in public-private partnerships in implementing its programs.
In the field of helping improve the quality of our public school system, the Department of Education (DepEd), led by Sec. Armin Luistro, has continued to attract private sector partners such as Jollibee Foundation, Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED), and Synergeia Foundation.
Jollibee Foundation continues to expand its feeding program for malnourished public elementary school students all over the country while ACED is now partnering with Singapore’s Temasek Foundation to provide intensive training to public school teachers and principals all over the country. Synergeia has been focusing its efforts towards implementing a comprehensive reading program for public schools in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
When the private and public sector work together, big things can happen and that is what we are seeing now in our education sector.
• Social media for social change. Recently, a Facebook fundraising campaign was initiated by Jay Jaboneta and Anton Mari Lim to raise funds to build boats that would bring school children from far flung areas in Zamboanga to their schools. I believe that they have already raised enough funds to already build four boats. Before this, students had to swim several hundred meters just to be able to reach their schools!
This experience has shown that social media can be used to bring about solutions to our country’s social problems and more importantly, it shows that there are still many Filipinos from all over the world who are more than willing to do their own small share in contributing to nationbuilding.
For those who want to donate to this cause, you can visit their Facebook group entitled, Zamboanga Funds for Little Kids.
• Ratings upgrade means more jobs. There is an increase in confidence in our country given by investment rating agencies such as S&P and Moody’s.
These international rating agencies have upgraded their forecast for our country and this will help attract more foreign investments to our country, provide more job opportunities to young Filipinos especially to those who just finished their college education.
According to these agencies, they gave a higher rating to the Philippines because they saw the commitment of the present administration in stamping out graft and corruption which have been a major deterrent in attracting investors.
By having more jobs available here in our country, Filipinos will no longer need to go abroad and leave their families behind in order for them to seek better employment opportunities.
What can young people do?
Despite all the good news and accomplishments, we still have a long way to go towards eradicating poverty and putting an end to our social ills. Young Filipinos have to realize that it is their future that is at stake in the next few years.
Our neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and now even Vietnam have begun to emerge as tiger economies in Asia with many of their citizens now enjoying a better quality of life.
Young Filipinos can do their own share in helping move our country forward by being proactive and responsible citizens who take part in volunteer programs that address particular problems in education, health, governance and the environment.
There are many groups that provide opportunities to be involved such as Pathways to Higher Education, Habitat for Humanity, Gawad Kalinga and our Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership.
Harnessing the use of social media by sharing inspiring Filipino stories will also help in promoting here and abroad that there are so many good things that is happening in our country.
We have been used to all the negative news that pervades our media that we often forget that we have so many inspiring stories of hope that showcase the heroism in our people.
Finally, young Filipinos should choose not to become apathetic by making an effort to be informed and involved in our country’s state of affairs.
Being informed is the first step towards being active. If every Filipino will do his own small share to help the country, it won’t be long before we are able to achieve our goal of a prosperous Philippine society.
Little Mozart on Studio 23
I was particularly pleased to see that Studio 23 has decided to air a TV program entitled ”Little Amadeus” which features the boyhood adventures and musical life of the great composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This animated
series entertains and educates children between the ages of four and eight years old about music and inspires them to make their own music. The stories revolve around his family, friends and performances and also involve the intrigues of his rival, Devilius, who along with a talking rat, Monti, attempt to discredit the Mozarts in the eyes of various nobles. This worthwhile and educational program airs every Sunday morning, 8 a.m. over Studio 23.
Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com
