Current Developments

...that will further strengthen our causality for change

Tuesday
January 13, 2009
Yahoo News

Arroyo now RP anti-drug czar amid "Alabang Boy's" controversy

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday said she will act as the government's anti-drug czar in the wake of the "Alabang Boys" controversy. A report over QTV's Balitanghali said President Arroyo made the statement before the start of the Cabinet meeting at Malacañang.

President Arroyo, who on Sunday ordered Department of Justice (DOJ) officials implicated in the alleged bribery in the "Alabang Boys" mess to go on leave, said she will turn over leadership of government anti-drug efforts to Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chair Vicente Sotto III and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Dionisio Santiago at the proper time.

"I will temporarily act as the czar, or overseer, of the war against illegal drugs. Then, I will turn over the job to the tandem (of) Tito Sotto and Jionex Santiago," the President said.

She said the controversy regarding young drug suspects Richard Brodett, Jorge Jordana Tecson, and Joseph Tecson should serve as a lesson to all sectors to intensify the war against illegal drug use. President Arroyo also called on the academe, Church groups, and non-government organizations and concerned sectors to intensify the campaign against illegal drugs.

A separate radio report quoted President Arroyo as saying that local communities that will be declared drug-free zones will be granted adequate funding for projects promoting the welfare of the youth.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles said President Arroyo is the best person to lead the government's anti-drug efforts at this time. "I guess nobody can do it better than her under the circumstances, with the vast power and resources of the Office of the President," Nograles said in a text message to reporters.

Five DOJ officials implicated in the "Alabang Boys" mess went on leave on Monday, including Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, chief state prosecutor Jovencito Zuño, senior state prosecutor Phillip Kimpo, and state prosecutors Misael Lagada and John Resado. Resado penned the December 2 resolution dismissing the case against the three drug suspects.

PDEA Special Enforcement Services head Major Ferdinand Marcelino earlier alleged that DOJ prosecutors were bribed with P50 million by the drug suspects' affluent families to ensure their release. Marcelino also claimed that he was offered P3 million by the Tecsons so he will not file charges against the suspects in the first place, but said he refused the bribe.

The three drug suspects, who were nabbed in a buy-bust operation last September 20, are currently under PDEA custody. Their fate remains uncertain pending Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez's review of the resolution recommending their release. - GMANews.TV

--------

Mayors back call for SK abolition
By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes
Inquirer
First Posted 01:24am (Mla time) 09/07/2007

BINALONAN, PANGASINAN—Most mayors have agreed the Sangguniang Kabataan should be abolished, saying SK officials could not divide their time between schoolwork and responsibilities in the SK, according to a top official of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

“The mayors do not openly speak [about the issue] because of political reasons, but they are for the abolition of the SK,” Mayor Ramon Guico, LMP president, said. He said many SK presidents fail to attend the municipal, city and provincial council sessions held during school days because they needed to go to their classes.

“So they are not really able to represent the youth during the sessions but local governments are spending for their salaries and other expenses,” he said.

As for SK projects in the villages, SK leaders usually consult barangay chairs who make the decisions on where the budget should be spent, he added. Guico said whenever SK leaders ask local officials for projects they are usually accompanied by their parents “who dictate on their children what to do.”

“They can not really decide on their own yet, thus they can not effectively represent the youth sector,” he said. Guico also said LMP members are divided between the plan to postpone the barangay and SK elections.

He said newly elected mayors wanted the elections to push through because most of the incumbent barangay officials are not their political allies, while reelected mayors wanted the elections postponed because the incumbent officials are their allies.

Theory of Change

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” ... Romans 12:2 NKJV*

We believe that if the youth of today is given proper life-coaching especially at this point of his development stage, by successful adults with the heart and passion to share their success stories, existing connections and personal or corporate resources in a sustainable long term basis with directed self-discovery and life-skills development coaching activities, then a whole new dimension of opportunities coupled with other youth-serving organizations works results hopefully in a transformation domino effect that will be experienced starting with the youth’s personal life, his peers, his family, his school, his community, our country and, his faith.

It is believed that adults with unblemished integrity and with unquestionable ethical fiber can become the missing plug of the society’s hole that has caused the bleeding out of values, hopes and dreams of our youth today.

Programs have to trickle down the bottom of the pyramid because the future does not hold only to a few select portion of the youth population but in ALL*. If we focus only to a small percentage of the youth population, imagine how much we are loosing in the process. We have to reach out to the majority. To include those who have been watching on the sidelines long enough they have already developed the skills playing on their own and just waiting to be noticed by a coach.

We have to reach out those who are in far flung areas and those who are from isolated islands. The youth has to be empowered not just to lead themselves on their own but with intentional coaching that should start with leading them to know their life’s purpose, knowing what they love to do*, and what their life’s “flow”* is. Then we can start providing them with access to higher education and teach them skills in using tools and other skills for life. And everything else just and should follow. The secret of success is constancy to purpose.*

The sequence and order of what to coach the youth should be patterned appropriately. Education, skills and technology that will help them land a job or career can be learned and unlearned easily. These can follow after. But the spirit, the will, the emotions and the character of a person which is most of the time shaped in his early years of awareness and life experience, the period where he either develop or shuts down his dreams of becoming someday, should be the priority. But both have to go hand in hand. One without the other is just expecting a different result from doing the same thing.

The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.* These qualities are so much more important than the events that follows or the skills that are learned. If we will be able to deliver these things to the youth of today then better impacts will always come out.
They will now be armed to take better charge of their future, becoming change agents in their families, peers, schools, communities and our country. They will even have better social perspective of their faith. The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going, as an unknown author has said.

Our future as a nation depends on how much we invest in our youth today. We can not continue the cycle of apathy, passiveness, corrupted values and misplaced concepts based on what we see in the media, show business, businesses, politics and even in some cases in religion. Though the task may be daunting, unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can.* We can not keep on sowing neglect from one generation to another. Time is of the essence.

“We have to defend today our last standing ground, the youth, or tomorrow we won’t have anything to depend at all.” - TheYouthCompany

To God be all the Glory!

References:

* The National Youth Commission http://www.youth.net.ph/

* IBON Facts & Figures Volume 29 Issue #15 / August 15, 2006 by IBON Foundation, Inc.

• Yahoo News - January 13, 2009, “Arroyo now RP anti-drug car amid “Alabang Boys’ controversy”
* Inquirer News - Sept. 09, 2007, “Mayors back call for SK abolition”
* The Holy Bible - The New King James Version by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

* International Youth Foundation - Making Youth Programs Work, 1999 ..."strive for maximum youth participation"

*Steve Jobs - Stanford Report, June 14, 2005..."you've got to find what you love"

*Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - American Psychologist, October 1995..."If we are so rich, why aren't we happy"

* Benjamin Disraeli - "The secret of success is constancy to purpose."

*Vince Lombardi - "The spirit, the will to win, the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important that the events that occur."

*Unknown author - "The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going."

* Henry Drummond - "Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can."