SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – A bossy young mayor, a stubborn “mermaid,” and a blogger named “Wanderrgirl” led a powerhouse panel of speakers at the TEDxKatipunanAve, an independent local TED-like forum held at the Ateneo de Manila University on Saturday, June 16.
Held a few days after the Philippines commemorated the 114th anniversary of its independence, the discussion sought to “rekindle the fire of the Katipunan with new revolutionaries, facing new challenges, facing them head-on with their ideas — ideas that are worth spreading.”
The forum, which also trended on Twitter as #TEDxKatips, was inspired by the non-profit TED Talks (after Technology, Entertainment, Design) which started out as a conference in 1984 to spread great ideas.
From House of Chanel to Mayor’s Office
“My name is Mayor Pie (Alvarez), I’m the mayor of San Vicente, a town in Palawan. I’m 24 years old, I graduated college two years ago, I’ve been mayor since. We have one of the longest coastlines in the Philippines and one of the longest white sand beaches. I call it Jurassic Park,” the youngest mayor in the country introduced herself before she shared how she revolutionized politics in her town.
“We had ostriches on an island and they escaped and swam to the nearest town and they’d never seen ostriches before. The reactions were like, ‘Malaking ibon! Malaking ibon!’ Alvarez quipped to stress a point on the importance of education.
“In San Vicente, I have preschool and grade school kids who walk 8 kilometers to school everyday. If they’re willing to walk that far, it really says something about how young people are more willing to learn,” Alvarez told the audience about the plight of her town. About 80% of Alvarez’s constituents live in poverty.
Alvarez envisions San Vicente as a climate-resilient town, developing it into a prime ecotourism destination. Her brand of governance focuses on establishing sustainable tourism and providing quality public education for the youth.
At 21, Alvarez left a promising career at the luxury brand Chanel and returned to the country to run a political campaign. She beat her 50-year-old lawyer-opponent.
“It wasn’t answering what wasn’t making me happy…It made me think about what was at my core. It’s very important for everyone in this room to know what’s at your core. What’s at my core is that I’m naturally bossy,” Alvarez joked.
When her father asked her if she wanted to run for vice mayor, Alvarez protested saying, “No, I want to run for mayor.”
“Anyone who’s considering public service at a young age, like your 20s, your 30s, I’d really encourage it. It’s really what our government needs, it’s what the Philippines needs. You need to be bold and adventurous,” Alvarez told the young audience.
Stressing the need to reform the government, Alvarez said, “It’s a little old. No offense to Senator [Teofisto Guingona III], a lot of our leaders are over 40. If you want to do something, you should do it sooner rather than later,” cracking up the senator and the audience.
“The revolution has already started. We need more young blood and TED is about ideas that are worth spreading. I’m not saying run next election, but for the people considering it, it’s a wonderful job. Though it doesn’t pay well,” Alvarez said in conclusion.
The courage to say, ‘No!’
“I would like to ask Pie how she deals with corruption, particularly with people trying to get you to be corrupt. But I’m not a journalist right now,” veteran journalist Maria Ressa quipped when it was her turn to speak.
Ressa talked about how to create a culture that encourages idealism and fights corruption, which she thinks is the country’s biggest problem.
“How do you fight corruption? Each of us can do it. Find a line that you promise yourself you will never cross, because crossing that line means you’re turning from good to evil,” Ressa said.
“Everyone gets the offer that is hard to say no to. If you pass the test, chances are, you’ll stay clean. The tipping point works both ways. The more you say no, the easier it becomes. The more you do the right thing, the harder it is to do the wrong thing,” Ressa said.
Ressa shared how, 15 years ago at CNN, a fiancé of one of her best friends asked her out to lunch and offered her money to do a story she would have done anyway. And how, when she went back to the Philippines to head a big news organization, she said politicians and other newsmakers would complain that they have so many journalists on their payroll.
Desk editors then told her they were being offered considerable amounts of money by government officers in time for the elections.
“This is our cycle. This is my industry. This is why I love young journalists—they say no because they’re idealistic. I’m sorry, I get emotional when I talk about this. We had some young journalists and I hope they don’t go down the path of others,” Ressa said almost tearing up.
“You fight corruption yourself, draw your own line. You will not tolerate it in your area of influence,” Ressa said, sharing how she found the courage to say no.
“The first part is do no evil and the second part is do not allow others to do evil. For corruption, if I see corruption, I will not tolerate it,” Ressa added.
“It’s your line and your integrity. We also discovered systematic attempts to influence policy through news. These are things we need to be aware of and we need to fight. Systematic approaches to corruption that really tear things down,” Ressa said.
She explained that when people choose to draw their line and opt to turn evil, they have a greater chance of transmitting that action.
“Everything we say or do ripples through our social network affecting 3 degrees of influence in physical and virtual social networks,” Rappler’s CEO and executive editor said, adding that “social networks transmit ideas, but what they really transmit fast are emotions.”
More fun to be changemakers in PH
23-year-old designer Arriane Serafico, known in the blogosphere as Wanderrgirl, shared how she does her part to nurture a culture that promotes transparency and combats corruption.
Inspired by the Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, Serafico’s advocacy utilizes creativity, design and innovation to improve efficiency and transparency in governance.
Serafico is lobbying for the enactment of the Design Competitiveness Act of the Philippines, now on second reading in the Senate. This bill seeks to create an environment and a culture that values and drives Filipino innovation and promotes global economic competitiveness and government efficiency.
Serafico said revolutions happen in small ways and start with personal choices, and that you can do them with fun.
“It’s more fun in the Philippines, we have a surplus of problems to solve,” Serafico quipped.
For the award-winning environmentalist Anna Oposa, “the most alarming environmental issue is not global warming but apathy.”
Known as the Chief Mermaid of Philippine Seas for her courageous efforts in marine life conservation, Oposa is one of Yahoo! Southeast Asia’s 7 inspiring modern-day Filipino heroes.
“Boys are replaceable. Marine resources are not,” Oposa joked, if only to show how passionate she is about her advocacy.
“I am one. But I am one. If the people will lead, the leaders will follow,” Oposa told an amused and inspired crowd of hundreds at the Leong Hall of the Ateneo. – With reports from Apa Agbayani/Rappler.com
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