Kaya Natin!

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The Internet is a very powerful tool—few, if any, will dare say otherwise. Whether we use its power for good or evil is up to the users. On one hand, we can harness the power of technology to promote new and innovative ideas and spread inspiring messages. On the other hand, there are inconsiderate web users who choose to infiltrate the online world with viruses and nonsense and attack other people without regard for basic social propriety. It is not the Internet’s fault there are pornographic sites, illegal downloading sites, and false information. These were made by human beings with the capacity to think and create, but chose to produce these things we’d rather not have.

This notion of power in the hands of the users was one concept that former Bukidnon Rep. Neric Acosta brought up during a video conference forum held last Wednesday at the Knowledge for Development Center (KDC) in Ortigas. KDC a partnership for knowledge sharing between the World Bank and 10 private and state universities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. In this apt example of using technology for good, KDC connected to its office in Silliman University, Dumaguete, so that students from the Visayas and Mindanao were able to listen to the inspiring message of former congressman Acosta and three other inspiring government officials on the role of young people in good governance. Acosta shared that power and knowledge can be both good and evil, depending on how a person uses it.

Wednesday’s forum was the second in a series of video conferences sponsored by the KDC that features Kaya Natin! Champions of Good Governance as speakers. Last Tuesday, KDC-Tuguegarao in St. Paul University were able to interact with Mayor Sonia Lorenzo of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, and Cong. TG Guingona of Bukidnon. Mayor Jesse Robredo, through KDC-Naga in Ateneo de Naga University, was also able to speak to students in Davao last Thursday.

Previously, the World Bank and KDC also sponsored a series of face-to-face forums on good governance in four institutions for the Kaya Natin leaders. Mayors Jesse Robredo of Naga City and Florante Gerdan of Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya went to Palawan State University, while Governors Ed Panlilio and Grace Padaca spoke at the Central Philippine University in Iloilo. In addition, Mayor Robredo also went to University of San Carlos in Cebu, and Governor Padaca went to Notre Dame University in Cotabato City.

According to the KDC, the Good Governance Forum Series is about inviting [outstanding leaders] to talk about their own models of good governance to students of selected universities in the Philippines that have Knowledge for Development Centers. It’s about bringing local government leaders in these Universities and interact with the youth on how they were able to change and make a difference in their own governance.

Mayor Lorenzo shared to students in Tuguegarao how she was able to transform San Isidro from a fourth-class to a second-class municipality through having a shared vision with the people of San Isidro, and allowing them to be stakeholders and participants in governance. “If people trust the government, they will have better electoral behavior,” she said, noting that in the last elections, she ran without putting up tarps and posters, but still managed a landslide victory.

Cong. Guingona, son of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona II, presented the “Power of a Bad Example.” He provided facts and figures from the Department of Budget and Management to supplement his presentation on financial anomalies that the current administration has been allegedly committing for the past years. “Good governance should have transparency, accountability, and the participation of the people,” the congressman insisted. These were things, he added, that the Arroyo administration greatly lacks.

Former congressman Acosta, meanwhile, described the importance of the participation of people in government, highlighting the duties of a leader and a citizen when they enter into a “social contract.” He also encouraged the students to start thinking big and do away with Filipinos’ usual inferiority complex—which Acosta dubbed as our “na lang attitude”: “Sila na lang,” “Wag na lang,” “Hayaan na lang,”—as compared to other nationalities. The Filipinos have the power to influence the world, and we should start thinking of ourselves in that way.

Mayor Robredo likewise encouraged the Davaoeños with his short talk on good governance in Naga. Having won over 150 local, national, and international awards, Mayor Robredo is a certified expert on running a local government unit with transparency, social accountability, and people empowerment.

All three video conference talks prompted the students to ask questions concerning the elections, good governance, and what one can do to ensure good leadership in the government, further proof that young people are not all apathetic. They only need good government officials to look up to and tell them that yes, there is hope for the country. The Kaya Natin! Champions are just few of the hundreds more good leaders that we believe are truly serving the public.

This is the message that the KDC and Kaya Natin want to share to young Filipinos. There is still hope, there are still good leaders, and we have to take a stand and be empowered if we are to progress as a nation. It is with this objective that the project was undertaken, using the power of the Internet to ensure that our young citizens remain socially aware and involved in the shaping of our country’s future.