SUMMARY
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More than a year has passed since the untimely death of the late Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo. Numerous events and commemorations have been held by his friends, co-workers and loved ones in the past few months celebrating his life, legacy and contribution to the society. Amidst all the scandal our government is facing, people who knew Sec. Jesse often find themselves asking, “What would Jesse do?”
Jesse Robredo is undeniably now the face of good governance. For the past year, the outcry for good governance in our country has reached a high point in our society and even higher during the pork barrel scam. The only question is, “what really is good governance?”
Advocating reforms
As Mayor, Sec. Jesse was involved in so many different advocacies but unknown to many; education was at the top of his list. Before he became DILG secretary, he was already active in the Synergeia foundation whose main advocacy is reforming the local school boards in the different communities of the country, especially those hard to reach areas. Sec. Jesse would travel to far-flung communities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to personally assess the quality of education children are getting and find ways on how to solve them.
Continuing Sec. Jesse’s crusade to have reforms in our education system, Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership together with SEAOIL Philippines re-launched the SEAOIL-Jesse Robredo Champions for Good Governance and Education seminar for local chief executives. Already on its third round, this seminar/workshop has reached over 200 local chief executives all over the country. The recently concluded seminar was held last October 17-19, 2013 at the Bayleaf Hotel, Intramuros, Manila.
Mayor’s from all over Luzon came together as one learning about good governance, social accountability, leadership ideas and experienced different personality development ideas to make them think out of the box in terms of solving their community’s problem with education. Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee and Kaya Natin! Champion welcomed the participants to the event, which gave the mayors a chance to participate in a good governance and leadership dialogue with the senator. Ateneo School of Government Dean Tony La Viña shared his thoughts on what it took to be a leader who practiced good governance and leadership with integrity.
Social accountability
Day two was all about social accountability and best practices wherein Affiliated Network for Social Accountability coordinators Tony Ingles and Jecel Censoro shared their innovative checkmyschool.org; an initiative that aims to improve service delivery in public education by promoting social accountability and transparency. They work closely with the Department of Education by empowering citizens to engage government offices in dialogue. Former Governor and two-time Galing Pook awardee Lito Coscolluela was able to share to the participants how he help improve the education system in Negros Occidental and proved to them that best practices in the government are possible.
“What sets this seminar apart from all the others done before is that we do not only focus on one aspect of the participant. Focus is also given to their personality development as it affects what kind of leader they are to their constituents,” mentioned by program head Sab Arcinue.
Mhir de los Santos, president of Heroic Leadership Philippines introduced to the participants the concept of heroic leadership and what their organization does for different individuals. Part of helping the community is done through social innovation. Mark Ruiz, president of Microventures Inc. and the man behind Hapinoy gave our local chief executives ideas on how to help the community through empowering the people to be instrumental in the development of their municipality/city.
Ending the three-day seminar was Senator and Kaya Natin! Champion Koko Pimentel. He stated that this seminar was perfectly named after Jesse Robredo because as a public servant he never failed to empower not only himself but also encourage his fellow local chief executives to engage in innovative ways to help improve the educational system in their community. “Having witnessed the late secretary in action, I believe that good governance concerns us all. This program, the SEAOIL-Jesse Robredo Champions for Good Governance and Education—is a good example of how we can unite for a common cause,” Pimentel said.
Walking the talk
Sec. Jesse was always known for his “tsinelas leadership” or what is more understood as a kind of leadership that not only interacts with people through “lip service” but translates it into concrete action involving not only himself but the people as well. Through this good governance and education seminar, local chief executives will have the opportunity to develop their ideas, translate them into action and more importantly do it in an effective, ethical and empowering way. So, what is good governance? “Good governance concerns the public good; which cannot be attained without improving the quality of life of our people.” Good governance is Jesse Robredo.
The Seaoil-Jesse Robredo Champions for Good Governance and Education Luzon Phase will have its 2nd round this coming December 5-7, 2013. For more information please contact Sab Arcinue at (02)990-3282. – Rappler.com
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